Categories: Science & Technology

NORAD Santa tracker moves from Google to Bing

The battle between internet search engines for prominence on tracking down Santa’s route has taken a new turn, as a fresh war over who gets to officially “follow” Santa this year took a surprising turn.

The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) – which has been tracking Santa from 1958 – has announced its switching its annual Santa tracking partnership from Google to Bing.

For the last five years, Google was the official Santa tracking destination as it had a contract with the search engine giant, slashgear.com reported.

But now, after the two organizations decided to take “different paths”, NORAD has switched its allegiance to Bing, while Google has branched out and made a new route that charts Santa’s journey around the globe.

According to NORAD, they “coordinate with Santa’s Elf Launch staff” to follow the route, which they describe usually starting at the International Date Line in the Pacific Ocean, before heading west.

They said: “Santa usually starts at the International Date Line in the Pacific Ocean and travels west. So, historically, Santa visits the South Pacific first, then New Zealand and Australia.

“After that, he shoots up to Japan, over to Asia, across to Africa, then onto Western Europe, Canada, the United States, Mexico and Central and South America. Keep in mind, Santa’s route can be affected by weather, so it’s really unpredictable.”

NORAD, which has been tracking Santa from 1958, has announced its switching its annual Santa tracking partnership from Google to Bing

The tracking of Santa began in 1955, when the Continental Air Defense Command (CONAD), began tracking Santa and then later switched to NORAD three years later.

NORAD is a U.S. and Canadian military organization, whose duties include aerospace warning, aerospace control, and maritime warning, around the clock every day.

NORAD says it uses four high-tech systems to track Santa – radar, satellites, Santa Cams and fighter jets.

But now Google says it will track Santa using a new algorithm created by Google Maps engineers.

Users will be able to log on and trace Santa’s route using Google Maps and Google Earth starting at 2:00 AM Pacific standard Time on Christmas Eve.

It remains to be seen whether both trackers will show the same route.

NORAD Tracks Santa

oqSYT5xAFI4 oVuGdzdAAcI
Nancy Clayson

Nancy is a young, full of life lady who joined the team shortly after the BelleNews site started to run. She is focused on bringing up to light all the latest news from the technology industry. In her opinion the hi-tech expresses the humanity intellectual level. Nancy is an active person; she enjoys sports and delights herself in doing gardening in her spare time, as well as reading, always searching for new topics for her articles.

Recent Posts

Donald Trump and Elon Musk Celebrate Election Victory at UFC 309

Image source: Wikimedia Commons President-elect Donald Trump celebrated his election victory at the Ultimate Fighting…

5 days ago

White House 2024: Donald Trump Wins, Kamala Harris Calls Him to Concede Election

Millions of voters across the US chose to return Donald Trump to the White House…

2 weeks ago

Who Won? Donald Trump Declares Victory as He Addresses Jubilant Supporters in Florida

Donald Trump declares victory in the US election as he addresses jubilant supporters in Florida.…

2 weeks ago

Stocks Soaring as Donald Trump Closes in on US Victory

Stocks around the world are rising as Donald Trump appears to be on the cusp…

2 weeks ago

Who Won? Kamala Harris Cancels Election Night Party as Path to Victory Narrows

Donald Trump has won Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Georgia and taken a lead over Kamala…

2 weeks ago

Quincy Jones Dead at 91

Quincy Jones, the celebrated musician and producer who worked with Michael Jackson, Frank Sinatra, Ray…

2 weeks ago