NORAD Santa Tracker To Compete With Google This Year

Santa’s annual trip around the globe is just around the corner, and this year you’ll be able to track him with two services. Yes, two companies have invested money into tracking Santa this year. NORAD’s Santa Tracker, which has been following Saint Nick’s trip since 1955, will be competing with Google this year.

According to ABC, NORAD has partnered up with Google over the last few years to bring Santa’s journey to life. This year, however, NORAD will be using Microsoft’s Bing Maps.

Michael Kucharek, a spokesman for the NORAD Santa Tracker, said:

“NORAD and Google have decided to go their separate ways and pursue other opportunities. It was a mutually agreed upon decision that transpired earlier this year.”

NORAD may be the biggest name in the Santa tracking business, but several people will turn to Google this year for their Santa tracking needs.

Google developed its own algorithm and will use Google Earth and a mobile app to track Santa’s location this year.

VP of Google Maps and Google Earth, Brian McClendon, wrote on Google’s Blog:

“While we’ve been tracking Santa since 2004 with Google Earth, this year a team of dedicated Google Maps engineers built a new route algorithm to chart Santa’s journey around the world on Christmas Eve.”

Google and Norad will begin tracking Santa’s journey on Christmas Eve. You can check out the NORAD Santa Tracker here. Or check out Google’s service here. If Norad and Google can’t fulfill your Santa tracking needs you can also check out TheSantaTracker.com.

Here’s a live feed of Santa’s journey around the world via The Santa Tracker.

Who do you think will give a more accurate depiction of Santa’s global journey?