One of the neat things included as part of SketchUp 8 was the new way that it pulled in imagery from Google Earth. Rather than using the
Google Earth COM API
as it had for years (Frank covered it in 2006), it pulls in imagery via Google Maps which results in color imagery instead of the black and white that you’re used to.
While the color imagery is certainly a great feature, it appears there is another reason for the change as well — Google is eliminating the COM API.
Instead, Google is encouraging developers to take advantage of the powerful JavaScript API that was released in 2008 along side the Google Earth Plug-in. This allowed for a wide variety of applications, like the popular “monster milktruck!” demo.
It’s worth noting that current and all past versions of Google Earth (5.2 and earlier) will continue to support the COM API, but future versions will not.
If you’re a developer, what do you think of this news? Have you moved on to the JavaScript API already and this is a non-event? Or does this have you scrambling to make sure your app will work with future versions of Google Earth?