SAN FRANCISCO , California ( CNET ) -- The fact that you now can explore the ocean through Google Earth is n't going to make Google much money directly . But the move is nonetheless smart . The new Google Earth 5.0 software allows users to explore the ocean depths from their computers . Google generated early-stage goodwill from being the best answer to the online search problem . But the company is large and getting larger , especially as it shows a better ability to withstand the recession than rivals , and that goodwill wo n't last forever . Google Earth , though , gives the company a new way to bring its brand to the world , notably with students for whom the software will help supplant atlases and encyclopedias . And in the long run , as Google Earth and Maps -- either as standalone software or used through a browser -- will likely become a widely used virtual window on the real world . Google will control the technology and commercialization of that portal . Will the visibility of the ocean depths on Google Earth make money directly ? Not likely . But it adds incrementally to the overall utility of the software , which in the long run keeps it relevant . `` The near-term opportunity is in local search , '' for example people looking for restaurants or hotels , said John Hanke , director of Google Earth and Maps , in an interview . Google has begun experimenting with advertisements on Google Maps and Google Earth , added Peter Birch , product manager of Google Earth , at the launch event . Since people often need to discover information about a place before going there , Google Earth and Maps could prove a lucrative endeavor . It may take years to get there , and it 'll cost Google dearly in server hardware and network bandwidth , but Google has shown patience in subsidizing long-term projects . Though Hanke would n't reveal the expense of Google 's geographic services , some of the economics are in the company 's favor . Just as Google 's search engine takes advantage of innumerable information that others put on the Internet , Google Earth is a platform that houses information supplied by outsiders that Google does n't have to pay . It 's the Internet 's user-generated content story , but this time it 's data that can be overlaid on a map of the Earth . And in the case of the ocean work , there are prestigious users generating high-quality content . Many ocean researchers gathered at the Google Earth 5.0 launch , and several showed there 's pent-up demand for a way to conveniently display their data somewhere . And it 's not just to share sea surface temperature data with fellow Ph.D.s , but also to try to educate the public . Ken Peterson , communications director for the Monterey Bay Aquarium , was excited about his layer in Google Earth that shows the location of various types of fish -- along with ratings for people about whether they should eat those varieties or substitute others . Barbara Block of Stanford University and Patrick Halpin of Duke University were eager to show the tracks of shark travels recorded by radio transmission to satellites . Ross Swick of the University of Colorado-Boulder showed a Google Earth animation of the gradually shrinking Arctic ice cap over the last 29 years . And Philip Renaud of the Living Oceans Foundation has supplied underwater video of the Red Sea as part of the foundation 's mission to chronicle the state of coral reefs . Hanke envisions much broader information , though , including consumer-oriented material such as the best dive spots and kite-surfing areas . Ultimately , he wants `` every single location '' on Earth , land or sea , to have information . `` We 're trying to encourage our users to annotate all the places in the world . Part of what we 're doing is seeding that ecosystem of spatial information , '' Hanke said . `` That creates an opportunity for Google to provide location services on phones , mobile devices , in cars in the future , to guide people to the best places . Being a valued guide , the go-to source of information about the best places to go -- that will be a powerful and valuable thing for Google . '' Think of it as a second Internet in a way , only instead of using abstract names to locate information , you can use actual locations to locate information . Some refer to the idea as the `` geographic Web . '' The clearest illustration of the indirect benefits Google Earth can bring is the fact that the company could persuade former Vice President Al Gore , whose climate change documentary won him an Oscar and a Nobel Peace Prize , to bear the Google Earth standard . In effect , he provided an eco-halo that can offset the more down-to-earth capitalistic realities of Google 's operation . Google seems to share the altruistic , educational motivations of many researchers . But it 's also got business in mind with Google Earth . `` We try to create products people love to use , '' Birch said . `` We create value , then think of appropriate ways of monetization . '' © 2009 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved . CNET , CNET.com and the CNET logo are registered trademarks of CBS Interactive Inc. Used by permission .
Imaging the ocean depths via the new Google Earth 5.0 is a smart move for Google . It adds to the overall utility of the software , which in the long run keeps it relevant . Ocean researchers attended Google 's launch and are eager to display their data . Eventually , Google wants to provide data on `` every single location '' on Earth .