Google expands maps coverage to fill in blanks

It’s easy to gain the impression that Google is all-knowing, but in fact there are still significant gaps in its coverage. Netizens looking to find more information on conflict-ridden Georgia soon discovered, for instance, that Google Maps information on the country is pretty much non-existent. As Google Maps product manager Dave Barth explains on the Official Google Blog:

Why doesn’t Google Maps show any cities or roads for
Georgia, or its neighbors Armenia and Azerbaijan? The answer is we
never launched coverage in those countries because we simply weren’t
satisfied with the map data we had available. We’re constantly
searching for the best map data we can find, and sometimes will delay
launching coverage in a country if we think we can get more
comprehensive data.

Google has copped some criticism for this approach (conspiracy
theorists would obviously have a field day), and has now decided to
shift that approach. “We have started preparing data for the handful of
countries that are still blank on Google Maps,” Barth wrote. In the
meantime, he points out you can get basic information from the more
comprehensive but not-in-your browser Google Earth.