This is where our economic model is today

Chikai Ohazama is the Managing Director of Google Earth. This service launched a year ago, allows you to navigate and zoom in on a representation of the Earth in three dimensions. Based on satellite imagery, Google Earth is open to multiple applications.

Where does the idea of Google Earth and how many do you expect of users During Hurricane Katrina, you would have saved 10-12 million connections per hour.

The creation of Google Earth dates back to the acquisition of Keyhole in 2004. This company then developed digital three dimensional images of Earth. We wanted to bring this technology to Internet users. Before, needed to have with machines of large capacity of calculations to view these images. But today, with a connection to Internet broadband and a simple PC, it is now possible to access databases of satellite images. You can navigate on a virtual globe and zoom in on cities such as Paris-click to find a street or building. We do no data on the rate of connection to the service, even if the figures you are consistent.

You have opened Google Earth for all developers to make applications. Why Will you control content

Anyone can create content related to satellite images of Google Earth. To do this, simply create a file in the KML (Keyhole Markup Language) format and to leave as a free download on the Web. For example, you can already find an application that shows the giraffes at the Los Angeles zoo. You can also see your next place of destination for your vacation and find information on this site. We have even seen a game about the movie "king kong" in an attempt to find the island of the skull. At the end of the game, it offers you to buy the DVD of the film. It is a great community around Google Earth which is making. Today, everyone can create his own page on the Internet, and we want everyone to create his content on Google Earth. As is the case on the Web pages of the Web, we do not control what is done and we prevent nothing on Google Earth.

Satellite images are not available in real time. Boar-is it a day

Now, images are an average of eighteen months ago. We want to improve this with possible recent shots. In the State of current technologies, it is impossible to provide these images in real time. However, nothing prevents a user from the community to a connected, digital camera for example on Central Park in New York, to a view in real time.

There is no economic model on this service. Do you integrate advertising or sponsored links Will you one day tax revenue applications of the community

Besides a free basic version, we offer two other versions of Google Earth revenue, the Pro version and more. This is where our economic model is today. On the free part, we have tests to include advertising. It is one of the possible income sources. But we are still looking for the best way to do so to not interfere with the user. For the time being, our goal is to create and to grow a community of users. And there are not plans to tax developers who create applications on Google Earth.

What other developments are in project

We offer other planets to visit. We have also developed Google March and Google Moon, through our close agreements with Nasa providing images. It's more than one approach of curious engineers of recent scientific discoveries and who wish to disseminate to the public. In tests that we do, we try to get Google Earth for the computer. This is why we announced earlier this year an agreement with Volkswagen to equip a prototype equipped with our technology.