

Bangalore: Almost everyone who has planned a road trip or looked for an aerial view of his/her childhood home or searched for public transit updates has used Google Maps, as this free tool allows to look at street maps, decide between routes, locate businesses and even navigate streets in 3D.



But do you know about the secret technologies behind Google Maps? Let us take a look on behind-the-scenes facts about Google Maps.



14. Google Maps has accumulated huge data



Combining satellite, aerial and street level imagery, Google Maps has over 20 petabytes of data, which is equal to approximately 21 million gigabytes, or around 20,500 terabytes. 15% is the usage share of the Google Maps API, currently the most used API tracked by ProgrammableWeb.



13. How often are the images renewed?



Aerial and satellite images are updated every two weeks depending on data availability. Street View images are updated as quickly as possible depending on factors such as weather, driving conditions.