Google Maps first became available as a web mapping service in 2005.
Google Maps was announced in February 2005 and initially launched for desktop web browsers. Its early interface let users pan and zoom across maps, search for locations, and view route information without repeatedly loading an entirely new page.
The service grew through acquisitions and new features. Google bought Where 2 Technologies, the company whose technology helped shape the original Maps product, and later acquired Keyhole, whose 3D-earth technology supported Google Earth. Street View arrived in 2007, two years after Google Maps launched.
Google Maps is therefore distinct from Google Earth and Street View. Google Earth began from Earth Viewer, while Street View is an imagery feature within the broader mapping ecosystem rather than the original web mapping service itself.