Google Maps & Google Earth

Google Maps and Google Earth's content includes everything you'd find in these products: map and terrain data, imagery, business listings, traffic, reviews, and other related information provided by Google, its licensors, and users.

These guidelines cover your use of the content – with one exception. There are some particular guidelines regarding your use of Street View imagery available from both Google Maps and Google Earth. Please read the section below for instructions on how Street View imagery may or may not be used.

Terms of Service

To help you figure out whether your use of the content is acceptable, first read the following documents:

• Google Terms of Service
• Google Maps/Google Earth Additional Terms of Service

Your use of the content is first and foremost governed by the licenses above.

Fair use

Apart from any license granted to you by Google, your use of the content may be acceptable under principles of "fair use." Fair use is a concept under copyright law in the U.S. that, generally speaking, permits you to use a copyrighted work in certain ways without obtaining a license from the copyright holder.

There are similar, although generally more limited, concepts in other countries' copyright laws, including a concept known as "fair dealing" in a number of countries. Google can't tell you if your use of the content from our products would be fair use or would be considered fair dealing; these are legal analyses that depend on all of the specific facts of your proposed use. We suggest you speak with an attorney if you have questions regarding fair use of copyrighted works.

Written permission

Due to limited resources and high demand, we're unable to sign any letter or contract specifying that your project or use has our explicit permission. As long as you follow the guidance on this page, and attribute the content correctly, feel free to move forward with your project.

Attribution

All uses of the content must provide attribution to both Google and our data providers. We require clear, visible attribution when the content is shown. You may not move the attribution to the end credits or fade it out after a few seconds.

Note that if you (a) embed a classic map, Street View panorama, or My Map; (b) use one of our APIs on the web or in an application; or (c) use Google Earth Pro, or Earth Studio on desktop; then the necessary attribution is already baked into the map and no further credit is needed. Learn more about how to properly credit, as well as how to identify providers, on our attribution guidelines page.

If you're unwilling to meet our attribution requirements, contact our data provider(s) directly to inquire about purchasing the rights to use the content directly. You'll find provider contact information listed on their websites.

Personalizing your map

You may annotate our maps with additional information – like points, lines, or labels. In fact, many of our tools have built-in features that make it easy to do just that. For example, Google My Maps lets you draw lines and shapes on a Google map. We also offer a Styling Wizard that allows you to edit the colors of individual map components (for example, changing water to purple), as well as toggle visibility for each component (for example, making roads invisible). If neither of those fit your needs, you may export an image from Google Earth or Earth Studio to add custom labels or graphics using third-party software.

While we encourage annotations, you must not significantly alter how Google Maps, Google Earth, Earth Studio, or Street View would look online. For example, you're not allowed to make any changes to the colors of the product interface.

For Google Earth and Earth Studio content, you're not allowed to significantly alter our imagery without providing clear context that it's a simulation, projection or fictional content.

Prohibited Conduct

Note that you may not use output from Google Earth, Google Earth Pro and Earth Studio to reconstruct 3D models or create similar content, or to create other content, product(s) or service(s) that may violate our Terms of Service.

Google Maps, and Google Earth, have built-in print or (for Earth Studio) export functionality. You may print content for non-commercial use and enlarge it (for example, a map with directions). In all uses where you’ll distribute printed materials that include the content, first be sure to read the general guidelines above, especially with regard to fair use and attribution.

Note that we cannot provide high-resolution or vector screen captures of Google Maps; however, you may use Google Earth Pro or Earth Studio on desktop to save and print high-resolution JPEGs. Images can be exported up to 4K.

Google Earth and Google Earth Studio

You may use Google Earth and Earth Studio on television and in a featured film following the general guidelines on this page, especially with regard to on-screen attribution. This includes everything from news broadcasts, short films and documentaries, but does not include promotional films, advertisements or commercials. This License to use Google Earth and Earth Studio content applies to all types of film regardless of platform (and technology) distributed on, but does not extend to content distributed from or to these territories.

Before using Google Earth or Earth Studio, please review our License Terms and Terms of Service. We also ask that you register your usage here—we love seeing creative uses of Google Earth and appreciate the insights you share.

Google Maps & Street View

If you’re using Google Maps or Street View, or your project features a scene in which our mapping products are referenced—for example, if an actor uses Google Maps on a phone or an interview subject demonstrates how they used Google Maps in their research—you should submit your project for approval according to the guidelines on the Entertainment and Media page.

If you’d like to use our content in a web-based project or application, please first review the general guidelines, especially with regard to attribution.

Embeddable maps

We have multiple APIs available to help you build and embed custom maps, including Street View, within your website or application. When using these APIs, certain restrictions may apply. If you simply need to embed a classic Google map or Street View panorama on your website, learn how to easily do so here.

Google Earth images

We know the imagery in Google Earth, both current and historical, can provide useful visual context to news websites, blogs, and other educational sites. And often these sites want to use the imagery found in Google Earth or Earth Studio as still images, both as-is or annotated with additional labels and features.

You may use a handful of these images in a news article or on a blog, as long as you follow our attribution rules. You may also want to look at Google Earth Pro and Earth Studio on your desktop and for these purposes.

Google Earth video

If you’re just planning to distribute recreational content made in Google Earth or Earth Studio online (e.g. YouTube), no explicit permission is required for your project but the same attribution rules apply. Does not apply for ads/commercials or promotional content shown online.

Digital

If you’d like to use our content in a digital advertisement, please first review the general guidelines, especially with regard to attribution.

Any use of Google Maps in digital advertisements must not significantly alter how the products and imagery would look online. Please see the "Personalizing your map" section for specifics.

Street View imagery can only be used in digital advertisements where (1) the imagery comes directly from the Google Maps APIs or (2) the imagery is embedded or linked to on your website using HTML and URL provided on Google Maps.

You may not use Google Earth content in digital advertisements.

TV & Print

If you'd like to use Google Maps content in a television commercial, please refer to our guidelines on "Entertainment and Media" to request brand approval. Note that you may not use Google Earth, or Street View imagery in television commercials.

You may not use Google Maps, Google Earth, or Street View imagery in print advertisements.

If you’d like to use Street View imagery in your project, please first review our general guidelines, especially with regard to attribution.

Street View imagery may be incorporated into your project if:

• the imagery is embedded or linked on your website using HTML and URL provided on Google Maps; or
• the imagery comes directly from the Google Maps APIs, as long as you abide by the Google Maps/Google Earth APIs Terms of Service.

These solutions ensure that if Google edits or removes imagery in response to user requests, these changes will be reflected in your project too.

Prohibited uses

While we’re excited to see many uses of Street View, there are some use cases that are prohibited. Examples of prohibited use cases include:

• creating data from Street View images, such as digitizing or tracing information from the imagery;
• using applications to analyze and extract information from the Street View imagery;
• downloading Street View images to use separately from Google services (such as an offline copy);
• merging or stitching together multiple Street View images into a larger image.

These restrictions apply to academic and commercial projects.

Our trademarks are our valuable assets, and we want to make sure our users and partners use them correctly. These trademarks include the Google Earth wordmark, Google Maps wordmark, Google Earth logo, Google Maps logo, Google Maps red pin element, Street View wordmark, Street View icon, Pegman wordmark, and the Pegman logo.

How to use

You may use our trademarks to accurately refer to our products or services, as long as such references are appropriate and consistent with our trademark guidelines. You may only use approved versions of our marks. Please follow all of the general trademark usage guidelines, the Google Maps Platform Terms of Service, and the Street View Trusted badge usage guidelines. The trademark usage guidelines apply even to marks that were previously (but are no longer) used in connection with our products.

Prohibited uses

You may not use, incorporate, or combine any of our trademarks into a third-party brand name, product name, business name, trade name, or slogan.

You may not use any of our marks in a way that suggests you are endorsed by or affiliated with Google or our Geo products. For example, you may not use our marks:

• in domain names;
• as app icons or featured in an app;
• as the most prominent elements on your website;
• on physical merchandise, promotional materials, business cards or business stationery;
• in product reviews.

Please do not modify or mimic our marks.

Thanks again for using Google Maps, Google Earth, and Street View.