[9nGQluzmnq3M]

Correction: Keyhole became Google Earth. (Fun fact: the K in KML is Keyhole.)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Earth#History

Google Maps stems from an Australian company called Where2, which AFAIK was not funded by spooks.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Maps#Acquisitions

[cpeterso]

More history about Google's mapping products is available in Bill Kilday's book "Never Lost Again: The Google Mapping Revolution That Sparked New Industries and Augmented Our Reality". Kilday was a founder at Keyhole, the startup acquired by Google to become Google Earth.