Nonprofit organizations looking for ways to publicize their activities may find an avenue with Google Earth Outreach.
New York — Google today announced Google Earth Outreach, a program to help the world’s nonprofit organizations get the resources, software and training they need in the virtual world so they can better communicate to Google Earth’s 200 million users how to help the real one.
Google Earth, an application for viewing 3-D maps and satellite images of streetscapes and landscapes, has always been good for a quick zip around the globe. Now its creators are trying to make it good for the world it virtually represents.
The program gives philanthropic organizations the tools they need to create so-called layers to Google Earth, which superimpose maps, text and illustrations over satellite photos of the planet in order to create a narrative.
The program, announced at a media event in New York today, includes online guides, video tutorials, and case studies about using Google Earth specifically targeted to the needs of nonprofit organizations. Google will also open online forums to connect nonprofit participants with experienced programmers who can assist in developing Keyhole Markup Language (KML) layers for Google Earth.
The Google Earth Outreach program represents a formalization of ad-hoc partnerships with organizations using the free software to publicize their works. Pilot Outreach partners include the Jane Goodall Institute, the United Nations Foundation and Earthwatch.
“Non-profits are trying to tell a story and trying to move people emotionally,” said Rebecca Moore, manager of Google Earth Outreach. They are trying to inspire action, advocate on behalf of a cause and drive people to, for example, make donations, sign a petition or lobby your congressional representative.
They have somewhat unique needs. Therefore we have focused on helping them understand how to do these things, said Moor.
Google Earth is a free mapping and satellite photo application that lets users fly around a virtual globe and zoom in on images of any location on the surface of the world. While it’s handy for navigating cities and checking out the roof of your own home, it also comes in a US$400 Pro version that has sophisticated tools for building maps and layers, and adding detailed information and multimedia.
Google’s first large-scale move in this philanthropic direction came in April, when it activated a “Crisis in Darfur” layer within the Google Earth application.
Already, the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum has been using Google Earth to call attention to atrocities in the Darfur region of Sudan.
The Darfur layer, which the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum created, shows icons that indicate villages that have been burned in that region and provides photos, video and eyewitness testimony of the tragedy caused by Janjaweed militia and Sudanese forces in the region.
Clicking on one opens a window with details and links on how to help.
The U.N. Environmental Program, meanwhile, has used the software to show areas of environmental destruction. The Jane Goodall Institute shows locations of its research on chimpanzees and African deforestation. A Brazilian Indian tribe is working on ways to help stop loggers and miners from deforesting the jungle and digging for gold.
“There is nothing like the power of information to make people understand the urgency of action,” said Kathy Bushkin Calvin, executive vice president for the U.N. Foundation.
By turning these individual efforts into a formal program, Google hopes to make its tools more widely available to non-profits around the world. The resources will be available on an open Web site, so technically individuals and corporations can tap into the program as well.
“Our goal with Google Earth Outreach is to help public service organizations worldwide leverage our mapping technology to further their goals by providing tailored technical guidance and grants,” said John Hanke, director of Google Earth & Maps.
"Now any organization can quickly and easily annotate Google Earth with pictures, video and information to tell visual, compelling stories of the work they do to over 200 million Google Earth users," he said.
Several organizations have already created specialized layers and maps, including the United Nations Environment Program, which has created an atlas of the world’s changing environment that it designed to draw attention to environmental hot spots.
Google said organizations that create particularly compelling content for Google Earth will be highlighted in the Google Earth Outreach Showcase, an online gallery of the most compelling new layers, and a subset of those will be featured in the Global Awareness folder in Google Earth on a rotating basis.
Organizations can also now apply to get a free copy of Google Earth Pro and additional technical support from Google.
However, grants to receive a free copy of Google Earth’s $400 professional-version software will be limited initially to certain U.S. non-profits certified by the Internal Revenue Service. Many of the features, though, are available in the free version of Google Earth, available as a download for Windows, Mac and Linux computers.
As part of the announcement Hanke also introduced three new Global Awareness layers for Google Earth:
- Global Heritage Fund (GHF): The GHF Global Awareness layer explores cultural heritage sites around the world that GHF is working to preserve for future generations.
- Earthwatch Expeditions: The Earthwatch Global Awareness layer enables users to virtually visit more than 100 volunteer Earthwatch expeditions in Google Earth.
- Fair Trade Certified : The TransFair USA layer introduces users to the over 70 Fair Trade Co-ops located throughout Latin America, Asia and Africa.
There is a method to Google’s philanthropy; the search giant’s current plan for Google Earth is to open it up to as much useful geo-located information and content as possible.
The hope is that users will come to rely on it as a searchable source for such information. If they do, Google knows what to do from there, having already made plenty of money monetizing search with targeted advertising.