If you were given a Google Street View image of anywhere on Earth, could you identify the location?
The competitors at the GeoGuessr World Cup can do just that. The clues are in brick houses, distinctive trousers and unusual telegraph poles
April 2023
From Google Maps to Pokémon Go, John Hanke is programming the future
The CEO of Niantic has helped create technologies that have changed the way we live. How does he see the future of play?
January 2022
Italian mafia fugitive arrested in Spain after Google Street View sighting
Convicted murderer Gioacchino Gammino tracked down in Galapagar, where he had lived undetected for 20 years
October 2021
Memory lanes: Google’s map of our lives
Google’s Street View helps us navigate the world, but it’s also a portal on forgotten places and secret moments
June 2021
OpenStreetMap looks to relocate to EU due to Brexit limitations
Open-source UK tech company cites copyright issues, rising costs and prospect of more influence in EU
January 2021
GPS art: the hybrid activity mixing creativity and fitness – video
Guardian Australia gives GPS art a go
November 2020
‘Understanding a map creates a new sort of relationship with the outdoors’
Nick Giles
Sales of Ordnance Survey’s maps and adventure apps have soared this year, as people reconnect with the beauty and history on their doorstep
October 2020
The upside
The maps that show life is slowly getting better
New ways of seeing the world can help provide a new perspective to age-old problems
August 2020
Google Maps gets worldwide visual overhaul
Updated version promises ‘more vibrant’ representation of natural features and built environment
June 2020
Maps show UK pavements not wide enough for social distancing - in pictures
Spatial analysis by Esri UK has found that most pavements around the country are less than 3 metres wide
May 2020
Kneel before the bus! Soviet roadside wonders – in pictures
From tractors on columns to pavements that take off, French photographer Jason Guilbeau outsmarted lockdown to find the former USSR’s strangest street relics
March 2020
The Guardian picture essay
Show with the flow: elevation maps reveal world rivers
UK lags behind other countries in social distancing, data shows
January 2020
How I fell in love with ...
When I’m homesick, I take a walk down the streets on my screen
Leandra Beabout
This is the story of how I fell in love with Google Street View, which is really a story about coming home
October 2019
'Ultimate gift to future generations': plan to laser map all land on Earth
Project to record cultural, geological and environmental treasures at risk from climate crisis
April 2019
The networker
Google Street View’s ability to calculate car accident risks is digital tech writ large
John Naughton
Cities in motion
Mapped: historical public transit systems v their modern equivalents
January 2019
Off the chart: the big comeback of paper maps
As Stanfords travel bookshop moves into new London premises after 118 years, its cartographer explains how the ability to tailor-make any map is keeping their magic alive
July 2018
Who owns the space under cities? The attempt to map the earth beneath us
The space under cities is getting busier – from transport excavations to billionaire’s mega-basements. So how to keep track of what’s down there?
April 2018
Cities quiz
Quiz: can you guess the world city from its cold war Soviet spy map?
From 1950 to 1990, the Soviet army created incredibly detailed maps of much of the world. These have been gathered together in The Red Atlas: How the Soviet Union Secretly Mapped the World