<html><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><div><br><div>Begin forwarded message:</div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"><div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><font face="Helvetica" size="3" color="#000000" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; color: #000000"><b>From: </b></font><font face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica">Thomas C Wood <<a href="mailto:tcwood@usgs.gov">tcwood@usgs.gov</a>></font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><font face="Helvetica" size="3" color="#000000" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; color: #000000"><b>Date: </b></font><font face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica">June 24, 2009 9:49:20 AM MDT</font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><font face="Helvetica" size="3" color="#000000" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; color: #000000"><b>To: </b></font><font face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica">Lisa A Wald <<a href="mailto:lisa@usgs.gov">lisa@usgs.gov</a>></font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><font face="Helvetica" size="3" color="#000000" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; color: #000000"><b>Cc: </b></font><font face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica">Kevin T Gallagher <<a href="mailto:kgallagher@usgs.gov">kgallagher@usgs.gov</a>>, Eldrich L Frazier <<a href="mailto:efrazier@usgs.gov">efrazier@usgs.gov</a>>, Mark G Negri <<a href="mailto:mnegri@usgs.gov">mnegri@usgs.gov</a>>, Lorna A Schmid <<a href="mailto:lorna@usgs.gov">lorna@usgs.gov</a>>, Alan L Davidson <<a href="mailto:adavidso@usgs.gov">adavidso@usgs.gov</a>>, Karen L Kretlow <<a href="mailto:kkretlow@usgs.gov">kkretlow@usgs.gov</a>></font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><font face="Helvetica" size="3" color="#000000" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; color: #000000"><b>Subject: </b></font><font face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica"><b>Re: Google maps on USGS Web Sites</b></font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; min-height: 14px; "><br></div></div><div>Lisa,<br><br>Kevin Gallagher forwarded your email of June 8, Subject: Google maps on<br>USGS Web Sites, and asked me to respond to you on his behalf. First I want<br>to apologize for the delay in responding, but we wanted to provide you with<br>the latest and most accurate information regarding this important issue.<br><br>Your questions about Google Maps are good ones and the GIO is committed to<br>providing proactive leadership for USGS in this area. We currently have<br>two efforts underway to address potential issues with Google Map ads:<br><br>1) The GIO is leading for DOI, a GSA effort to put a contract vehicle in<br>place for Geospatial software. The GeoSpatial SmartBUY Request for<br>Quotation (RFQ) closed on May 21 and bids were received. Web-based<br>visualization software is a functional requirement in the Statement of Work<br>(SOW), the category Google Earth products fall under. An award by GSA is<br>anticipated in July 2009. The GIO will keep USGS and DOI geospatial users<br>informed if and when a potential Enterprise-type license with Google Earth,<br>or other vendors of Web-based visualization software, results from the<br>GeoSpatial SmartBUY award. The latest updates on the GIO's E-GIS<br>activities, including the SmartBUY status may be found at<br><a href="http://gio.usgs.gov/egis/">http://gio.usgs.gov/egis/</a>.<br><br>2) The GIO plans to take the topic of advertisements to the Federal Web<br>Manager's Council for insight into the perspectives of other agencies and<br>try to get more refined guidance for uses of the Google Maps applications<br>across the government. For now, should advertisements begin to appear on<br>Google Maps, The GIO will work with the USGS Office of Communications to<br>create an appropriate disclaimer that could be included in the USGS<br>template footer section.<br><br>I hope this response addresses your concerns. If you have additional<br>questions, concerns, or suggestions, please let me know.<br><br>Thanks again for your thoughtful email.<br><br>Tom Wood<br><br>Thomas C. Wood<br>Chief, Computing Infrastructure, ITSO, GIO, USGS<br>445 National Center, 12201 Sunrise Valley Dr., Reston, VA 20192<br>W: 703-648-5617, C: 703-899-2819, FAX 703-648-6821, <a href="mailto:tcwood@usgs.gov">tcwood@usgs.gov</a><br><br><br> From: Lisa A Wald <<a href="mailto:lisa@usgs.gov">lisa@usgs.gov</a>> <br> To: <a href="mailto:kgallagher@usgs.gov">kgallagher@usgs.gov</a> <br> Date: 06/08/2009 04:34 PM <br> Subject: Google maps on USGS websites <br><br>Kevin-<br><br>We currently utilize Google Maps on our website, the Earthquake Hazards<br>Program website, in several locations, and I've looked around enough to<br>notice that many of the other USGS websites are using Google Maps also.<br><br>We're doing research on our next generation of Realtime Earthquake Maps (<br><a href="http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/">http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/</a> ), and Google Maps is one of the<br>options we're considering. Since this is our primary web product, and we<br>get an enormous number of hits/page visits following a significant<br>earthquake, we approach any changes to these pages, much less a complete<br>overhaul, with great care.<br><br>I recently spoke to a Google representative about Google Maps, and the rep<br>told me that ads on Google Maps WILL happen some day, although Google won't<br>say when. This has been a threat for a while which we haven't yet seen<br>come to fruition, but with all the Google Maps all over USGS websites now,<br>I think we should be proactive.<br><br>Google has a new license called Google Maps Premier license which comes<br>with some benefits, the most pertinent to the USGS being that it will<br>continue to be ad-free. The Earthquake Hazards Program website alone gets<br>enough pageviews on our current Realtime Earthquake Maps that the unlimited<br>pageview version of that license would be required, which the rep quoted at<br>well over $100,000. per year.<br><br>Has anyone at the USGS looked into Google's plans for their Google Maps<br>regarding ads, limitations, etc with an eye for making sure all the Google<br>Maps the USGS websites are using continue to work (ad-free) in the future?<br>Perhaps a USGS-wide agreement or license would be the best solution for<br>everyone?<br><br>Thanks<br>- Lisa<br>--------------------------<br>Lisa Wald, Geophysicist<br>Web Team Leader<br>USGS Earthquake Hazards Program<br>Golden, CO<br>303-273-8543<br><a href="mailto:lisa@usgs.gov">lisa@usgs.gov</a><br><br></div></div><br></body></html>