Despite making a number of capital deals with Nvidia and Sony, the small company was struggling to pay and retain employees. The product, called 'Keyhole EarthViewer', was sold on CDs for use in fields such as real estate, urban planning, defense, and intelligence users paid a yearly fee for the service. Keyhole then developed a way to stream large databases of mapping data over the internet to client software, a key part of the technology, and acquired patchworks of mapping data from governments and other sources. The demo was popular, but the board of Intrinsic wanted to remain focused on gaming, so in 1999, they created Keyhole, Inc., headed by John Hanke. As a demo of their 3D software, they created a spinning globe that could be zoomed into, similar to the Powers of Ten film.

At the time, the company was developing 3D gaming software libraries. The core technology behind Google Earth was originally developed at Intrinsic Graphics in the late 1990s.

Some countries have requested that certain areas be obscured in Google's satellite images, usually areas containing military facilities. Google Earth has been viewed by some as a threat to privacy and national security, leading to the program being banned in multiple countries. The web-based version of Google Earth also includes Voyager, a feature that periodically adds in-program tours, often presented by scientists and documentarians. Other features allow users to view photos from various places uploaded to Panoramio, information provided by Wikipedia on some locations, and Street View imagery. A flight simulator game is also included. Additional globes for the Moon and Mars are available, as well as a tool for viewing the night sky. In addition to Earth navigation, Google Earth provides a series of other tools through the desktop application, including a measure distance tool. In 2019, Google has revealed that Google Earth now covers more than 97 percent of the world, and has captured 10 million miles of Street View imagery. Google Earth is able to show various kinds of images overlaid on the surface of the earth and is also a Web Map Service client. Users may use the program to add their own data using Keyhole Markup Language and upload them through various sources, such as forums or blogs. The program can also be downloaded on a smartphone or tablet, using a touch screen or stylus to navigate. Users can explore the globe by entering addresses and coordinates, or by using a keyboard or mouse. The program maps the Earth by superimposing satellite images, aerial photography, and GIS data onto a 3D globe, allowing users to see cities and landscapes from various angles. Google Earth is a computer program that renders a 3D representation of Earth based primarily on satellite imagery. Linux ( Ubuntu 14/ Fedora 23-equivalent or later).

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