Spotlightingnews

Google Earth Election Guide Now Available

Google's pool of information on the next US election will be displayed on Google Earth Election Guide

Election Guide, the layer on top of Google Earth, is now available for those searching for information in order to make a better, more informed choice.

Since Monday's early hours, the Election Guide lets users see the places where races will be held on Nov 7th, each place having a star on it. The star, once activated, leads users to information about the race (FEC and opensecrets.org), as well as one-click-away information about those running for election sampled from the google search engine, google images and news.

There will be 436 congressional districts or stars, on Google Earth's map.

John Hanke, director of Google Earth and Maps:

"People can easily learn a whole lot about the candidates in their particular area just by browsing this layer on Google Earth. Our hope is that young people using Google Earth will... make better, informed choices."

Google Earth provides a virtual globe view, without any fees, by overlaying satellite-views, aerial photos and GIS over a three-dimensional Earth.

Ex-Earth Viewer, Google Earth, was initially coded by Keyhole Inc, but later rebranded Google Earth after the search giant bought Keyhole Inc.

Google Earth's Election Guide was created by two Google engineers, in their 20pct work time dedicated to employee's own projects, the company's policy that led to the creation of Gmail, Google News or orkut.

Google's VP of Search Products and User Experience, Marissa Mayer, recognized the incredible power of free time for individual projects, as the 20pct given to employees brought Google 50pct of its new products.