You Can Turn Back the Clock on Google Earth as It Turns 20 Today

I bet you haven’t heard about Google Earth in a while, but the service is still alive and kicking. Today, Google Earth turns 20, and to celebrate its 20th anniversary, Google is letting you turn back the clock to see how your favorite spot or hometown has evolved over the years.

The company shared a blog post talking about Google Earth’s two-decade-long journey. They are also introducing two new features to the service. The first one is called Historical imagery, which lets you take a look at the past and see what a place used to look like years back, and how it has evolved.

You can pick a spot anywhere around the globe and slide back to the past. I tried the feature out on the Google Earth app, and it allowed me to explore my hometown and how it used to look in 1985. You can go back even further, depending on the spot that you are exploring.

Other than that, Google will also introduce AI-driven insights to Google Earth in the coming weeks. This will help professionals with new datasets on the planet, where they can use a tool to check the tree coverage of an area, surface temperature, and rooftop reflectivity. However, this feature could be limited to the experts in the US.

I remember using Google Earth a lot when I was in middle school to explore different regions around the world. It’s hard to believe the service has stuck this long and didn’t end up in Google’s graveyard. I hope its journey continues for another 20 years to help curious minds like mine learn more about our planet.