🎨 Art, music and story makers · 🔠Science, nature and the world
Google Earth
By Google. Visit Google Earth
Desk research from the maker's own pages. Not yet tried by us. Checked 2026-10-24.
Google's 3D globe of satellite imagery, terrain and 3D buildings. Kids can fly anywhere, drop to Street View, scroll back through decades of imagery to see glaciers or cities change, take guided Voyager stories, and build their own map projects with pins, text and photos. Teachers use it for geography, history and earth science. Google has moved Earth into its Maps Platform with paid Professional plans for business; the basic app stays free.
Our take: A rich free tool for geography and earth science at home or school; younger kids should explore Street View with an adult nearby.
Checked in a browser
A browser check on 2026-10-25: what loads, the ads and trackers we saw, and what a child meets first. Not a hands-on test.
| Child safety: 4 out of 5 | No ads, chat or links out; the phone was sent to an "Open in app?" page with a single OPEN button. |
|---|---|
| Data: 5 out of 5 | No ad, tracking or analytics networks loaded on the redirect page; only one Google image host. |
| Ease: 2 out of 5 | On a phone the web version did not open; the visit was redirected to an app-link page, so a child cannot start exploring without the app. |
| Cost honesty: 5 out of 5 | Free; nothing to buy was seen. |
What we found
- earth.google.com/web on a phone-sized window redirected to preview.app.goo.gl, titled "Open in app?".
- The page contacted 1 third-party host (googleusercontent.com) and set 1 cookie.
- The only controls were a pre-ticked "Save my place in the app" box and an OPEN button.
- This check never reached the Earth globe itself, so what runs inside it was not seen.
From the test: On a phone the website only offers to open the Google Earth app; nothing tracking-heavy loaded, but a person should check the app itself.
| Ages it suits | about 8 and up |
|---|---|
| What its terms say about age | Google Earth's own terms set no extra age rule. Under Google's terms, anyone below the age to manage their own Google account needs a parent's permission, usually through a Family Link account. Browsing without signing in is possible. (terms) |
| Price | Free, with paid extras. Free to use; Standard, Professional and Professional Advanced plans for business are billed per user per month (prices not shown on the page we loaded, Oct 2026). |
| Works on | Web, iPhone and iPad, Android |
| Account | No account needed |
| Ads | None |
| In-app purchases | None |
| The AI in it | Paid professional plans add Gemini for asking map questions in your own words; the basic app is a map viewer. |
What's good
- Free, very detailed view of the whole planet
- Timelapse shows real change over decades
- Kids can build and share their own map stories
- Works without signing in
Watch for
- Street View can show real people and places unfiltered
- Saving projects needs a Google account
- Now pitched mainly at business, with paid AI plans
- Data handled under Google's broad policy
Data and privacy
Covered by Google's main privacy policy. Apple's listing for the iOS app shows data that may be linked to your identity; projects you save are stored in your Google account. Read the privacy policy.
Does it work?
No independent study of learning found; the maker's own claims only (education stories and classroom guides).
In the Big Index
- On the list 17 best geography and history games for kids
- The maker in the who's who: Google
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Where these facts come from
- https://www.google.com/earth/about/
- https://mapsplatform.google.com/maps-products/earth/capabilities/
- https://mapsplatform.google.com/maps-products/earth/plans/
- https://www.google.com/earth/education/
- https://www.google.com/help/terms_maps/
- https://www.google.com/help/terms_maps-earth/
- https://policies.google.com/terms
- https://policies.google.com/privacy
- https://apps.apple.com/us/app/google-earth/id293622097
Prices, terms and features change. Nobody paid to be listed, nothing here is an affiliate link, and Peabody never rates itself. Where we and the maker disagree, the maker's own pages are the ones to trust.