1

On our website we have several map previews for various KML datasets. When clicking the preview button the link would go to:

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=http://magic.lib.uconn.edu/magic_2/vector/37800/statect_37800_0000_2010_s100_census_1_kml.kmz

which would show a map with the overlaid KML file.

Support for this syntax from Google Maps apparently has stopped working recently, and I cannot find any new information about adding KML layers to a Google Map using the q parameter in a URL. Most of the resources I have found are for JavaScript or embedding maps, which hasn't been helpful. I have also found this thread from StackOverflow (Why has google maps "q" parameter stopped working?) but this is related to a specific location rather than adding a KML file. If anyone has new information or can help, that would be greatly appreciated.

Community
  • 1
  • 1
Kate
  • 133
  • 2
  • 17

1 Answers1

1

See KML files on Google Maps in the documentation.

From February 2015, maps created in the classic Google Maps — https://maps.google.com/ — will no longer load KML/KMZ files from external websites. However, we know that KML files are a really useful way to work with geographic data, so we’ve added KML to Google My Maps, and continue to support this format with other Google Maps APIs. We hope that one of these options will meet your needs.

There they only list:

So if you can't use Google My Maps or the Google Maps Javascript API v3, you may be out of luck.

Another reference from "support" is:

KML content isn't available in Google Maps

While using Google Maps, you might have received a notification saying "Some custom on-map content could not be displayed."

That’s because a certain type of content isn’t available anymore in the classic version of Google Maps or in maps embedded on other websites from the classic version of Maps. The content type that’s no longer available is KML, the file format Google Earth uses for the exchange of geographic information.

If you're the owner of a custom map with KML content, you need to update your content. Or, you can import your KML content into My Maps.

Community
  • 1
  • 1
geocodezip
  • 158,664
  • 13
  • 220
  • 245