Google Maps is a free web mapping service application and technology provided by Google that powers many map-based services including the Google Maps website, and embedded maps on third-party websites via the Google Maps API. It offers street maps, a route planner, and an urban business locator for numerous countries around the world.

Google Maps features a map that can be navigated by dragging the mouse, or using the mouse wheel to zoom in (mouse wheel up) or out (mouse wheel down) to show detailed street information. Users may enter an address, intersection or general area to quickly find it on the map.

Search results can be restricted to a certain area, thanks to Google Local. For example, someone can enter a query such as "Gyros in Athens" to find restaurants serving Gyros near the city. This can be used to find a wide variety of businesses, such as theatres, restaurants and hotels.

Like many other map services, Google Maps allows for the creation of driving directions. It gives the user a step-by-step list of how to get to their destination, along with an estimate of the time required to reach it and the distance between the two locations.

Google Maps offers three viewing modes by default: Map (Street map views), Satellite (satellite and high-resolution aerial photographs) and Hybrid (Street maps overlaid on satellite and high-resolution aerial photographs).

The "link to this page" link on each Google Maps map targets a URL which can be used to find the location on the map at a later time. The latitude and longitude can be used as input to NASA World Wind or TerraServer-USA, which in some cases have higher-resolution imagery.

Google Maps provides high-resolution satellite images for most urban areas in Canada and the United States (including Hawaii, Alaska, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands) as well as parts of Australia, Egypt, France, Germany, Iran, Iceland, Italy, Iraq, Japan, the Bahamas, Bermuda, Kuwait, Mexico, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and many other countries. Google Maps also covers the cities of Moscow, Istanbul, and also most of India.

All the images shown in Google Maps' satellite mode are at least a year old and in some places date back to 2001. Various governments have complained about the potential for terrorists to use the satellite images in planning attacks.

Google has blurred some areas for security (mostly in the United States), including the U.S. Naval Observatory area (where the official residence of the Vice President is located), and until recently, the United States Capitol and the White House (which formerly featured erased housetop). Other well-known government installations are visible including Area 51 in the Nevada desert.

With the introduction of an easily pannable and searchable mapping and satellite imagery tool, Google's mapping engine prompted a surge of interest in satellite imagery. Sites such as Google Sightseeing and Virtual Globetrotting were established which feature satellite images of interesting natural and man-made landmarks, including such novelties as "large type" writing visible in the imagery, as well as famous stadiums and unique earth formations.

Although Google uses the word "satellite", some of the high-resolution imagery is aerial photography rather than satellite imagery.