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KML Elements Supported in Google Maps

Notes

  • The left side panel in Google Maps differs in some aspects from that of Google Earth: styling is not supported, the order of features is not preserved, and the tree structure is not fully preserved.
  • Expiration and time-based refresh are generally supported, although Google Maps does not refetch content from the Internet more often than (in the order of) fractions of a minute to a few minutes. Google Maps ignores expiration settings in the HTTP headers but does use the expiration settings specified in KML. In the absence of expiration settings, or within the time validity interval, Google Maps may cache data fetched from the Internet for unspecified durations. A refetch of the data from the Internet can be forced by renaming the document and fetching it under a different URL, or by making sure that the document contains appropriate expiration settings.
  • There are restrictions in the Google Maps support of <NetworkLinkControl> and <NetworkLink>. Relative URLs are in some cases handled differently from Google Earth.
  • Google Maps uses a different projection for the drawing of polygons and lines than Google Earth. Lines are drawn as straight lines in the Mercator projection on Google Maps. Therefore, long lines may touch different points on the surface of the Earth than when the same lines are displayed in Google Earth.
  • There are limitations on the sizes of files that can be loaded by Google Maps, the number of features, and the number of vertices in polygons and polylines. These limits are subject to change.
  • There is rudimentary support for view specification but not complete support of <LookAt> and <Camera>.
  • Google Maps requires a correct specification of the encoding of the KML document. For example, a document specifying encoding="UTF-8" may not contain content encoded in ISO-8859-1.
  • Entity replacements such as $[name] are not currently supported.

Details about KML in Google Maps

The following table provides detailed information on which KML elements are supported in Google Maps.

KML Element Supported in Google Maps? Comment
<address> no
<AddressDetails> no
<Alias> N/A <Model> is not supported
<altitude> no 3D feature
<altitudeMode> no 3D feature
<atom:author> yes
<atom:link> yes
<atom:name> yes
<BalloonStyle> no
<begin> N/A <TimeSpan> is not supported
<bgColor> N/A <BalloonStyle> and <ListStyle> are not supported
<bottomFov> N/A <PhotoOverlay> is not supported
<Camera> no
<Change> partially only style changes are supported
<color> partially includes #AABBGGRR and #BBGGRR; not supported in <IconStyle>, <ScreenOverlay>, and <GroundOverlay>
<colorMode> no
<cookie> no
<coordinates> yes
<Create> no
<Data> yes
<Delete> no
<description> yes HTML content is allowed but is sanitized to protect from cross-browser attacks; entity replacements of the form $[dataName] are unsupported.
<displayMode> N/A <BalloonStyle> is not supported
<displayName> no
<Document> partially
implicitly, children are supported; no effect as child of other Features
<drawOrder> no
<east> yes
<end> N/A <TimeSpan> is not supported
<expires> yes see Summary section for details
<ExtendedData> partially
untyped <Data> only, no <SimpleData> or <Schema>, and entity replacements of the form $[dataName] are unsupported.
<extrude> no 3D feature
<fill> yes
<flyToView> no
<Folder> yes
<geomColor> no deprecated
<GeometryCollection> no deprecated
<geomScale> no deprecated
<gridOrigin> N/A <PhotoOverlay> is not supported
<GroundOverlay> yes cannot be rotated
<h> yes deprecated
<heading> yes
hint yes Target=... supported
<hotSpot> yes
<href> yes
<httpQuery> no
<Icon> yes cannot be rotated
<IconStyle> yes
<ImagePyramid> N/A <PhotoOverlay> is not supported
<innerBoundaryIs> yes implicitly from <LinearRing> order
<ItemIcon> N/A <ListStyle> is not supported
<key> N/A <StyleMap> is not supported
<kml> yes
<labelColor> no deprecated
<LabelStyle> no
<latitude> yes
<LatLonAltBox> N/A <Region> is not supported
<LatLonBox> yes
<leftFov> N/A <PhotoOverlay> is not supported
<LinearRing> yes
<LineString> yes
<LineStyle> yes
<Link> yes
<linkDescription> no
<linkName> no
<linkSnippet> no
<listItemType> N/A <ListStyle> is not supported
<ListStyle> no
<Location> N/A <Model> is not supported
<Lod> N/A <Region> is not supported
<longitude> yes
<LookAt> no
<maxAltitude> N/A <Region> is not supported
<maxFadeExtent> N/A <Region> is not supported
<maxHeight> N/A <PhotoOverlay> is not supported
<maxLodPixels> N/A <Region> is not supported
<maxSessionLength> no
<maxWidth> N/A <PhotoOverlay> is not supported
<message> no
<Metadata> no
 deprecated
<minAltitude> N/A <Region> is not supported
<minFadeExtent> N/A <Region> is not supported
<minLodPixels> N/A <Region> is not supported
<minRefreshPeriod> no <NetworkLink>
<Model> no
<MultiGeometry> partially
 rendered but displayed as separate features in left side panel
<name> yes
<near> N/A <PhotoOverlay> is not supported
<NetworkLink> yes  
<NetworkLinkControl> partially <Update> and <expires> partially supported (see Notes section above)
<north> yes
<open> yes
<Orientation> N/A <Model> is not supported
<outerBoundaryIs> yes implicitly from <LinearRing> order
<outline> yes
<overlayXY> no
<Pair> N/A <StyleMap> is not supported
<phoneNumber> no
<PhotoOverlay> no
<Placemark> yes
<Point> yes
<Polygon> yes
<PolyStyle> yes
<range> yes
<refreshInterval> partially
 <Link> only; not in <Icon>
<refreshMode> yes HTTP headers not supported for "onExpire" mode (see Notes section above)
<refreshVisibility> no
<Region> no
<ResourceMap> N/A <Model> is not supported
<rightFov> N/A <PhotoOverlay> is not supported
<roll> N/A <Camera> and <Model> are not supported
<rotation> no
<rotationXY> no
<Scale> N/A
 <Model> is not supported
<scale> no
<Schema> no
<SchemaData> no
<ScreenOverlay> yes cannot be rotated
<screenXY> no
<shape> N/A <PhotoOverlay> is not supported
<SimpleData> N/A <SchemaData> are not supported
<SimpleField> N/A <Schema> are not supported
<size> yes
<Snippet> yes
  
<south> yes
<state> N/A <ListStyle> is not supported
<Style> yes
<StyleMap> no rollover (highlight) effects are not supported
<styleUrl> N/A <StyleMap> is not supported
<targetHref> partially
 supported in <Update>, not in <Alias>
<tessellate> no
 3D feature
<text> N/A <BalloonStyle> is not supported
<textcolor> N/A <BalloonStyle> is not supported
<tileSize> N/A <PhotoOverlay> is not supported
<tilt> no
<TimeSpan> no
<TimeStamp> no
<topFov> N/A <PhotoOverlay> is not supported
<Update> partially only style changes, not <Create> or <Delete>
<Url> yes deprecated
<value> yes
<viewBoundScale> no
<viewFormat> no
<viewRefreshMode> partially "onStop" is supported
<viewRefreshTime> yes
<ViewVolume> N/A <PhotoOverlay> is not supported
<visibility> partially
 yes on <Folder> - child placemarks inherit their visibility
<w> yes deprecated
<west> yes
<when> N/A <TimeStamp> is not supported
<width> yes
<x> yes deprecated
<y> yes deprecated