# WTF is happening with/did I do to Google Maps? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 28, 2014, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-is-happening-with-did-i-do-to-google-maps/682526 "2014-02-28T17:49:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2014, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-is-happening-with-did-i-do-to-google-maps/682526/21 "2014-03-01T18:19:26Z")
> [@Mr\_Downtown](#): > > Google has never had contour lines or elevations—though you can see shaded relief by choosing the Terrain option. > > For topo maps, best to use [GISsurfer General Purpose Web Map and GIS Viewer | Surf GIS DATA](http://www.mappingsupport.com/p/gmap4.php) > Zoom in pretty far, then choose t4 in the upper right corner. Not true, at least not for me. Whenever you zoomed in far enough, labeled elevation contour lines were displayed in “terrain view” (along with the shaded relief visible at all scales.) I just checked, and this is still true (though the word “terrain” has been replaced with the phrase “topography and elevation”). ---
**Author:** ![K364](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k364/32/5_2.png) [@K364](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/K364)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2014, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-is-happening-with-did-i-do-to-google-maps/682526/22 "2014-03-01T18:19:31Z")
My frustrations: - how do I get the map to open with my location? It currently opens showing 1/3 of the world: from Iceland to Hawaii, from Brazil to Alaska. The (un)Help says: settings/search options/location but that doesn’t exist. - I used to be able to marquee select a section of the map to zoom in. Is that no longer possible? ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2014, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-is-happening-with-did-i-do-to-google-maps/682526/23 "2014-03-01T18:32:42Z")
But the typical contour interval in standard GoogleMaps (new and old) is 100 meters. If you want, say, 10 meter contours (or 10 or 20 foot ones), then, yes, you’ll have to install Jelf’s Gmap4 add-on (free or pay versions). ---
**Author:** ![Jelf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9f8e36/32.png) [@Jelf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jelf)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2014, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-is-happening-with-did-i-do-to-google-maps/682526/24 "2014-03-01T18:38:52Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > But the typical contour interval in standard GoogleMaps (new and old) is 100 meters. If you want, say, 10 meter contours (or 10 or 20 foot ones), then, yes, you’ll have to install Jelf’s Gmap4 add-on (free or pay versions). Gmap4 is a **browser app** , not an add-on. There is nothing to download, nothing to install. You simply click a Gmap4 link (just like any other link) and the map opens in your browser. If you open a Gmap4 link with the browser on your **smartphone or tablet** then Gmap4 automatically displays a **touch-friendly interface**. Joseph, the Gmap4 guy ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2014, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-is-happening-with-did-i-do-to-google-maps/682526/25 "2014-03-01T19:30:42Z")
Okay, thanks for the correction! It looks quite useful and seamless to me – well done. (But, at the risk of junior modding, allow me to suggest you check the SDMB rules about promoting things. I’m honestly unsure where this particular exchange falls.) ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Downtown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Mr\_Downtown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Downtown)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2014, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-is-happening-with-did-i-do-to-google-maps/682526/26 "2014-03-02T05:53:35Z")
**Jelf** didn’t promote it. I told **Trinopus** how to find what he was seeking, and then—in the amazing small world that is the Dope—the _developer of the project_ shows up and tells us about a cool new thing he’s added to a _totally free_ awesome and useful thing. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2014, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-is-happening-with-did-i-do-to-google-maps/682526/27 "2014-03-02T13:02:01Z")
Okay, thanks for clarifying! That is most excellent. Sorry for near-junior-modding, but I’ll bet other readers if this thread were wondering the same thing I was, so the post you just wrote will be helpful all around. I remember being 11 years old (1981) and visiting the camping/skiing/etc. equipment store Eastern Mountain Sports (like REI for you West Coasters, or Cabela’s in the middle states), and getting so excited to buy USGS topo maps at, like, four bucks per quad sheet. I would spend the following weeks poring over every squiggle of every 10-ft-interval contour line in all the places I knew within ten miles of my home – every patch of woods, every back street… And to think these can be accessed so easily nowadays. Of course it’s much better with today’s accessibility (and cheapness), but there’s something to be said for the pleasure of enjoying something that’s a bit harder-won and less ubiquitous. ---
**Author:** ![Orwell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/dfb087/32.png) [@Orwell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orwell)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2014, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-is-happening-with-did-i-do-to-google-maps/682526/28 "2014-03-03T13:24:53Z")
They also removed the measuring functionality on the new map (as best I can tell). On the old “classic” map, I had a distance measuring app enabled, but I can’t find it on the new maps. I can still get to it from the classic map, but that’s a huge step backward for me. ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2014, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-is-happening-with-did-i-do-to-google-maps/682526/29 "2014-03-03T15:11:47Z")
I’m back to the original maps (thanks everyone), so can’t really tell—what areas improved with the new map system? ---
**Author:** ![Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e4f/32.png) [@Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digital_is_the_new_Analog)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2014, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-is-happening-with-did-i-do-to-google-maps/682526/30 "2014-03-04T04:09:00Z")
> [@Orwell](#): > > They also removed the measuring functionality on the new map (as best I can tell). On the old “classic” map, I had a distance measuring app enabled, but I can’t find it on the new maps. I can still get to it from the classic map, but that’s a huge step backward for me. I was looking for this just yesterday, and found a Google help page that says they do not support measurements on the new maps, and you need to use classic maps for that, or a third party map. It gives a link to a third party map, but not to the classic Google maps. ---
**Author:** ![Orwell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/dfb087/32.png) [@Orwell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orwell)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2014, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-is-happening-with-did-i-do-to-google-maps/682526/31 "2014-03-04T13:24:59Z")
> [@Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](#): > > I was looking for this just yesterday, and found a Google help page that says they do not support measurements on the new maps, and you need to use classic maps for that, or a third party map. It gives a link to a third party map, but not to the classic Google maps. I don’t like the sound of that. How long will the “classic” map be available? ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2014, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-is-happening-with-did-i-do-to-google-maps/682526/32 "2014-03-04T16:22:20Z")
> [@Rhythmdvl](#): > > I’m back to the original maps (thanks everyone), so can’t really tell—what areas improved with the new map system? I haven’t played with it much yet, but I’m guessing they decided to downplay the MAP-related stuff, and focus on the “links to things that happen to be located here” stuff – as exemplified by that silly, space-wasting lineup of thumbnail images at the bottom of the screen. This may be driven partly by the fact (?) that not many people really care for maps as such, but I bet it’s more about emphasizing the things that can generate income for Google. ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Downtown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Mr\_Downtown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Downtown)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2014, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-is-happening-with-did-i-do-to-google-maps/682526/33 "2014-03-05T05:05:13Z")
For measurements, I recommend [ArcGIS Online](http://www.arcgis.com/home/webmap/viewer.html) You can choose among several basemaps (upper left). Frustratingly, the UI is different from the now standard for slippy maps. Instead of scrollwheeling in and out, you have to click to zoom in. But when you do, you can make length or area measurements quite easily. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2014, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-is-happening-with-did-i-do-to-google-maps/682526/34 "2014-03-28T14:26:11Z")
An update on ELEVATION CONTOUR LINES (what many people think of when they hear the word “topo[graphic] map”): At least for me, the standard GoogleMaps now shows some elevation contour lines (when “Terrain” is clicked on, from the upper-left box)… but only for INTERMEDIATE SCALES. When you zoom in past a certain threshold, they disappear, even though the shaded relief remains visible. ETA – Mr. Downtown, I love ArcGIS Online…much more geared toward cartographic clarity and completeness. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-is-happening-with-did-i-do-to-google-maps/682526.md?page=1)