Google Santa Tracker
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 | |
 Homepage on December 25, 2022 | |
Type of site | Santa tracking simulation, education and entertainment website |
|---|---|
| Owner | Google, Inc. |
| URL | santatracker |
| Commercial | Yes |
| Launched | December 1, 2004[1] |
| Current status | Active |
Content license | Images/audio: CC BY 4.0 Other files: Apache License 2.0[2] |
Google Santa Tracker is an annual Christmas-themed entertainment website, launched on December 1, 2004 by Google, that simulates[3] the tracking of the legendary character Santa Claus on Christmas Eve,[4] using pre-determined location information.[5] It also allows users to play, watch, and learn through various Christmas-themed activities. The site was inspired by NORAD Tracks Santa, which has operated since 1955.
In early 2004, employees at Google stated that "they felt like it could be better for users to 'visualize' where Santa is currently at" in response to the NORAD Tracks Santa service.[6] Later that year, Keyhole, Inc. was acquired by Google and they launched a paid service titled the "Keyhole Earth Viewer" (Google Earth's original name), where they would launch a service within the program titled the "Keyhole Santa Radar". The service received 25,000 viewers in its debut, and 250,000 the following year.[7]
In 2007, NORAD and Google formally announced a partnership which would last for the next five years.
In 2015, Google announced that Google Santa Tracker is now open source through GitHub.[8] This would mean that its users could install Google Santa Tracker as an APK file on Android devices. They also announced a handful of custom watch faces for Android Wear.
In 2018, the Santa Tracker added several features for students and educators. On December 4, 2018, the website fully launched a suite of games and lesson plans about coding basics and Christmas traditions around the world. The site also features information about non-profit organizations Khan Academy and Code.org.[9] The 2018 Google Santa Tracker page also allowed users to use the Google Assistant to simulate a call to Santa or listen to a Christmas story.[10] The website had 42.2 million visitors in December of that year.[11] The website claimed that Santa had delivered 5.6 billion presents in 2019.[12]
Between 2020 and 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic, Santa, Mrs. Claus, and the elves were depicted to be wearing face masks.[13] The face masks were removed in 2022.
