They changed it and I find it hard to do anything. It used to be easy to zoom from map to satellite to street view and back again. Now I have no idea what is going on.
Did you see these instructions to switch back to the Classic View:
To switch back to the classic version
Go to the new Google Maps.
Click the Help button in the bottom right corner.
Click Return to classic Google Maps.
Click Yes in the notification bar that appears.
If you'd like to switch more permanently, on the landing page that appears, follow the instructions to opt out permanently. Any feedback you could provide as to why you wanted to opt out will be valuable in improving the product for you in the future.
https://productforums.google.com/forum/#!topic/maps/UVvyNVbWq7M[1-25-false]
If you’re having issues getting to a specific mode (Full, Lite or classic Maps), you can try opening the following URLs on your browser.
Full version: https://www.google.com/maps/preview/?force=webgl
Lite mode: https://www.google.com/maps/?force=canvas
Your browser's default mode: https://www.google.com/maps/preview/?force=clear
Revert to classic Google Maps: https://www.google.com/maps?output=classic
The new interface is terribly frustrating and nonintuitive. Big fail!
Thanks for the instructions, that helped a lot. I simply prefer the old interface. Used to it, ya know?
What exactly is supposed to be improved in the new version? Just curious…
**Am I crazy or is Google Maps impossible to use now? **
Could be both.
Google must have entire wings dedicated to fucking up what’s perfect. The new grid with news/maps/etc in lieu of the old bar sucks too.
What’s different? It looks and acts the same as ever for me.
I think the new mobile version is even worse, and there’s no obvious way to revert to the old one. A bunch of really valuable features like terrain view and pre-caching either became hard to use or just vanished. It’s also missing basic elementary school geography shit like a scale!
I think the problem is that they’re trying to compete with Apple by going down the “form over function” path, trying to streamline the interface by removing features that fewer people used or were somewhat clumsily executed. I’m sure it’s more appealing to people at the phone store, but pretty irritating if you were one of the people that did use those features!
Returning to classic view is a temporary fix - you know they will eventually discontinue it. I hope they listen to feedback. It’s isn’t just a matter of learning a new interface; things don’t seem to work as well. The “search nearby”, in addition to not being obvious anymore, seems more likely to return results all over the place now.
I was mad when they discontinued the Wikipedia layer on maps - it was such a great tool for finding interesting things in a given area, and I don’t see why they couldn’t have just left it.
Thanks for the instructions!
And yes it could indeed be both 
Not only that, but I like improved interfaces! As long as they’re actually improved. New Googlemaps is horrible!
In the meantime, I will go back to the classic. Thanks for the instructions, PastTense
Yep, the new Maps is a complete disaster. They’ve also got rid of all the useful little extensions you could install, like the Distance Measurement tool, as far as I can see.
They clearly need to fire a lot of their staff, because too many people have nothing to do and so spend their time tinkering with things that worked perfectly well before.
If we could go back to Google Maps from about a year ago, Google Groups from about five years ago and Google search from about 10 years ago, it would be a lot more efficient.
I’ll readily admit that I hate a UI change, often including changes for the better. Every time I (used to) learn a new editor I’d hate it until it became old hat, then switching back to the old one I’d hate it even more than I hated the new one. Google maps may be a case in point. I certainly was irked with MS Office changed the look and feel of all their apps for Office 2007. All those things I knew immediately how to do, I had to learn all over again.
It reminds me of an ancient Zen koan. The student notices the master swearing at all the different editors he has to learn to do various different tasks. The student codes a clever new editor that has all the capability of the numerous other editors. The master is not pleased: “Now I have YET ANOTHER editor to learn!”
Let’s face it - some people are just plain evil. Every time something by google works great and people are happy with it they either kill it or fuck it up. It’s not like any of this is even making them more money.
Interesting theory. What evil plan do you think has been set in motion by this map change? 
The new interface drives me nuts, too, so it isn’t just you. My wife is also a bit perplexed by the new interface. I usually don’t mind interface changes, but this one is particularly difficult to get used to.
I also hate it and got a pop-up yesterday asking me for feedback. So I gave it and reverted to the previous interface.
The place I wanted to locate was a bit far up the screen, so I did what I have always done - used the trackpad to move the map. No idea what happened but it definitely didn’t work the way it used to and I had to leave Google maps and log in again but use the arrow keys to scroll through the map. What a pest.
I agree with TroutMan a reprieve is only temporary. Bastards.
Thanks for the instructions!
They do have a “What’s your (more) specific gripe” question on the “revert” box, so maybe they’ll listen.
Otherwise, it’s yahoo maps (which uses older pics for “satellite”) - or does for my home (it shows things removed 10 years ago.
Add Gmail to that list. I’ve grudgingly gotten used to the pop-up compose, but they should have left the classic version as an option.