Google Santa Tracker facts for kids
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A picture from 2015 showing Santa heading to Christchurch, New Zealand.
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Type of site
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Santa tracking simulation, education and entertainment website |
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| Owner | Google, Inc. |
| Commercial | Yes |
| Launched | December 1, 2004 |
| Current status | Active |
Google Santa Tracker is a fun website that comes out every Christmas season. It was started by Google in 2004. This website lets you pretend to track Santa Claus as he delivers presents on Christmas Eve. It uses special location information to show where Santa might be.
The website also has many games, videos, and learning activities. New activities are added every day in December. The idea for Google Santa Tracker came from NORAD Tracks Santa. NORAD has been tracking Santa since 1955.
History of the Tracker
In 2004, Google saw the NORAD Tracks Santa service. They thought it would be cool for people to see where Santa was. After Google bought a company called Keyhole, Inc. in 2004, they started tracking Santa. They used Keyhole's special map program, which later became Google Earth. They called it the "Keyhole Santa Radar." Not many people saw it back then because Keyhole was a paid program.
In 2007, Google even worked with NORAD for their Santa tracking service.
In 2018, the Santa Tracker got many new features. These were especially for students and teachers. On December 4, 2018, the website launched new games. It also added lesson plans about computer coding basics. You could also learn about Christmas traditions from all over the world. The site shared information about helpful groups like Khan Academy and Code.org.
The 2018 Google Santa Tracker also let you use Google Assistant. You could pretend to call Santa or listen to a Christmas story. That December, over 42 million people visited the website! In 2019, the website said Santa had delivered 5.6 billion presents.
In 2020 and 2021, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Santa, Mrs. Claus, and the elves were shown wearing face masks.
How the Website Works
Every Christmas Eve, the Google Santa Tracker starts showing Santa's journey. It begins around midnight in the furthest east time zone. This is about 10:00 AM UTC. The map shows Santa traveling and delivering presents in different cities. Santa seems to move about one time zone west each hour.
The website has counters that show you many things:
- How far Santa has traveled.
- How long until he reaches your city.
- How far he is from your city.
- The total number of presents he has delivered.
Santa is shown with his helpers. These include his reindeer and elves. You can also see penguins and a snowman helping him.
For each city Santa visits, the website shows a short summary. This summary comes from the city's Wikipedia page. It gives you a quick overview of the place. The website also shows pictures with the city in the background. Santa or his helpers are in the front of these pictures. The temperature of the city is also shown. This information comes from The Weather Channel.
Not every big city is visited. Some large cities close to others might be skipped. Smaller cities far from other towns are sometimes featured. Even when Santa is traveling, the present counter keeps going up. It just goes up slower than when he is in a city.
The 2016 website had a "This Just In" section. This section showed photos that looked like they were from social media. These pictures showed Santa and his helpers doing fun things. They might be copying the cover of Abbey Road or taking selfies. You can also watch animated videos and play games on the site.
The Santa Tracker map is usually locked until December 24. But you can play games and use the learning plans in Santa's Village all through December. The website got a new look in 2019. After that, everything except the live Santa Tracker was available all year round.
It's interesting to know that Google's Santa route is different from NORAD's. So, the two websites might show Santa in different places at the same time!
See also
In Spanish: Google Santa Tracker para niños
