# Did you know this Google Maps feature? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 4, 2017, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-this-google-maps-feature/788124 "2017-06-04T20:15:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Orwell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/dfb087/32.png) [@Orwell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orwell)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2017, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-this-google-maps-feature/788124/21 "2017-06-06T14:03:17Z")
> [@Dr.Strangelove](#): > > You can still get the classic mode, but it’s a global switch. Just visit here: > [Google Maps](http://www.google.com/maps/preview/?force=canvas) > > To turn it back to 3D, visit here: > [Google Maps](http://www.google.com/maps/preview/?force=webgl) > > Personally, I think the upsides of 3D exceed the downsides, but you certainly do lose detail in some areas. Interesting. I just compared the overhead sat view at my house. The image is definitely better with the non-3D view. A bit better detail, and no weird blurring and altering straight lines. Thanks for that. I’ll have to bookmark the first url so I have it. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2017, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-this-google-maps-feature/788124/22 "2017-06-06T14:23:52Z")
> [@Quimby](#): > > Tangentially related: > > Last year I was walking in my town and came across the Google Maps car. It was stopped at a stop sign in the cross walk so I walked around it. I figured sooner or later I would end up on Google maps maybe and sure enough about two months later there I was. I wa sin several images while I approached the car from the side, waked around it and went off to the other side. They blurred my face. > > What’s funny is I just checked again and I’m not there anymore. That means they updated their maps twice in one year where prior to that my town had had the same images for like 8 years. You should be able to scroll back in time if that’s what happened. They archive their Google Street View, so, for example, in my neighborhood, I can see imagery from Sept 2007, May 2009, Jun 2011, Jul 2011, Sept 2015, Jan 2016, Jul 2016. You just click on the clock icon in the top left, where it shows you the address, city, and date of imagery. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2017, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-this-google-maps-feature/788124/23 "2017-06-06T15:18:45Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > You should be able to scroll back in time if that’s what happened. They archive their Google Street View, so, for example, in my neighborhood, I can see imagery from Sept 2007, May 2009, Jun 2011, Jul 2011, Sept 2015, Jan 2016, Jul 2016. > > You just click on the clock icon in the top left, where it shows you the address, city, and date of imagery. I never noticed that feature. Thanks. It worked. And here I thought they erased me because I used Bing that one time 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2017, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-this-google-maps-feature/788124/24 "2017-06-06T23:45:55Z")
My brother still appears on google street view and will probably be there for years to come. Funny thing is there is a big brown mark in the image, which is where I assume he must have been throwing dirt clods at the camera as it was approaching. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2017, 8:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-this-google-maps-feature/788124/25 "2017-06-07T08:25:14Z")
> [@Orwell](#): > > Interesting. I just compared the overhead sat view at my house. The image is definitely better with the non-3D view. A bit better detail, and no weird blurring and altering straight lines. Thanks for that. I’ll have to bookmark the first url so I have it. Make sure you bookmark both; the change is permanent until you visit the other URL or switch computers. The 3D version actually has way more detail for me; I can see individual roof tiles, whereas with the 2D version it’s all blurred together. The overall image quality is less, too–there’s a lot of image noise for some reason. But really it all depends on where you live. The 2D and 3D data sets may not even use the same imaging provider. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-this-google-maps-feature/788124.md?page=1)