www.earth.google.com is currently available for download as a desktop application, although you need to be connected to the Internet to use it. Every time you open Google Earth, it automatically connects to Google's servers, giving you access to terabytes of geographical, political and social data. Google Earth is a program you download and install on your computer. Google Earth allows you to view satellite photos, maps, geographic terrain and 3D models of buildings from around the world. Google Earth is a browser, not a channel; and it is a canvas onto which anyone can publish their own unmoderated geospatial content for others to view.

www.earth.google.com is Google's long term local ad play - simple as that. Google Earth is a free application available from Google which allows you to see a virtual globe of the Earth. It has thousands of satellite and aerial photographs for places all over the Earth and is a blast to use. Some colossal information is diffused in "streaming" since Internet (even if the images satellite can go back to a few years), in short, Google Earth is a mine of information on our planet, constantly updated.

As you know, Google Earth is in beta, and they're still building out our ability to take on new users. They are making good progress, and expect to be able to accept new downloads shortly, so check back daily at earth.google.com. Another important function for Google Earth is to provide a two-ways information sharing channels for its global users. But with the KML functions, Google Earth can allow many users to upload their own data/location marks into the Web-based format and share it with other people. I feel Google Earth is indeed somewhat of a threat. For example, the base I'm stationed on seems to have significantly higher resolution imagery than the surrounding areas. So, Oops!

www.earth.google.com is given away for free, but that doesn't mean it doesn't make money for Google. Every time it is installed, it gives people the opportunity, heck it almost forces them, to change their default search engine in Internet Explorer 7 in less than 4 clicks. Google Earth is a free program put out by the folks at Google, and it's simply amazing. Essentially, it's a browser for the planet.

www.earth.google.com is a digital globe on your personal computer. It combines satellite imagery, maps and Google search to bring the world's geographic information to your fingertips. Google Earth is not the first Earth client and is nearly the same as its lesser known predecessor, Keyhole. However, with the Google name behind it and the basic version free to the end user, it has market penetration and recognition-an interesting target to write for. The visual feature displayed in Google Earth is converted into its KML text equivalent. Be sure to experiment with this feature.

As I'm sure many of you have experienced first hand, Google Earth is a program that is basically a virtual globe that allows you to zoom in and out of places all over the world. Since that update though, the interface hasn't really changed much. Google Earth is useless as a reconnaissance tool. You can't tell when the photos were shot, resolution is not too good, and you can't see anything that isn't visible from the street. The imagery in www.earth.google.com is mostly restricted by those who have licensed it to Google. You can seek permission to use imagery from Google Earth, but some of the license holders will require you to buy the imagery for a business application, or not allow it.