Google Launches Free 3-D Mapping Service

Google Inc. introduced a version of its satellite-based mapping service that allows Internet users to view three-dimensional images of buildings and landscapes, a bid to seize a larger share of the market for local advertising.

Google Earth, a free product, searches for pictures of businesses such as hotels and restaurants, Mountain View, Calif.-based Google said.

Google is using tools such as Google Earth and Google Maps to increase sales of search-based advertising to local businesses, a market that could be worth $3.4 billion in the U.S. by 2009, market researcher Kelsey Group Inc. has forecast.