Hi chapt0r,
It is quite simple once you get the hang of it. So here we go:

• You need to have a Google Maps login ID first, this is free to get from their web site: Google Maps (Top right is a "sign in" link, follow this and create a new account if you do not have one already). Keep this internet browser window open for now.
• Go to TW and add your hotspot (or button, or text - which ever you prefer) to your tour. This can be placed on a cylindrical or still image, or outside the scene window, on your projects main content background.
• In the bottom of your MainWindow (Properties and Actions) click the Actions tab.
• With your hotspot active (highlighted, or selected - so that the dashed lines appear around it) click: Misc then Link URL.
• A window appears (Link URL) with two boxes to fill in. Keep this open and we will come back to it.
• From your internet browser, log in to Google Maps, and mark (pin of flag) the location on your map that you want to reference in your TW project.
• Then at the top right of your map page is a link entitled "Link to this page" - click this.
  A window pops up, the first box says "Paste link in email or IM". You will need to copy the contents of this box (the complete http "string") and paste it into the TW Link to URL window "URL" box that we left open a minute ago.
• The second box (Destination) allows you to link to your new Google Maps location using a method of you choice, I use "_blank" to launch the map in a new browser window, but you can use "_self" if you want the map to be in the same browser window that you are viewing your tour from. Try them and see which you prefer.
• Save and test. Oh and don't forget some "hint text" to explain where you link is going to - it is the professional thing to do.

Hope this helps you get started. Come back if you get stuck...

It appears you can. First you need to know the difference:

(I'll call Google Earth GE in this post, and Google Maps, GM.)

The thing with GE is that you need to have the application software loaded on your PC before you can view a GE place marker. That is where GM and GE differ - you can view GM place markers in any internet browser. As most people have one, you reach 100% of your target audience with GM.

GE and GM use a file format called KML. If you are interested in knowing more, it is best to visit one of Googles web sites (like this one: Google Code).

Until today, I was not aware of a way to link a browser URL to a specific .kml location in GE. I did know that once you had the GE software loaded on your PC, that you get an icon appear in your GM user space and then you can view placemarkers in GE (you click the icon and it lauches GE on your PC). This way, if your client has GE software on thier PC, they can already view your GM place marker in GE.

But what about linking directly to GE? After your reading your question I went on the hunt again and found this information: Google Maps 2 Google Earth. So it can be done, although it still requires that you have the GE software on your PC.

I tried it. My test was to create a new map and place marker in my user space on GM. I then copied the URL link as before and pasted this into my TW hotspot with "Link URL" action. So far so good!
I then added the magic ingredients &output=kml to the end of the http string and published it.
The result: From my TW tour I click on my hotspot. Where as before it would launch an internet browser and show me a Google Map location, it now brings up a window (File Download) and enables me to open, save, or cancel the .kml file.
If I choose open, it lauches the associated software (in my case Google Earth - there are others on the market) and I see my place marker inside GE - Great!

So, yes it can be done. You just need to do some homework to see if there is any advantage for you to see place markers in GE rather than in GM.
Remember - not everyone has Google Earth loaded on their PC (it's around 12Mb in size). And of course be sure to check out any commercial licensing issues if you are using either of these products for commercial purposes.

Thanks for the question - I learnt something new today as well!

I have a new option to display Google Maps which might interest any Flash savvy people out there.

I was thinking along the lines of using TW's image pop-up component with a swf that contains a Google Map extract. Then I could link this to a hotspot from within any pano in my tour.

How can I achieve this?

By using the free AFComponents Gmap component (a Flash plug-in).

Using Flash and this plug-in, I have successfully created my "Google Map swf" and I can insert this into the image holder in TW.
This means I can control the size of the map and I do not have to launch any more browser windows, or link to any html iframes; It is all contained within my TW tour - Neat!
I am not sure on the commercial usage of this product but for personal projects it looks useful.

Now that there is a Google Flash API released, maybe there will be more options like this one in the near future.

Following on: I see that there is a new Google Earth Plugin which adds the ability to view Google Earth along with Google Maps that are embedded in web pages.

More information here: http://code.google.com/apis/maps/documentation/services.html#Earth

It adds an extra button "Earth" along side the normal Map, Satellite, Hybrid controls. Currently there are limitations but I am sure this will rapidly change.

Hi Martin,

Background
I used AFComponent's free "GMap 2" tool and Adobe Flash. AFC also sell the UMap component that Smooth mentioned in an earlier post. I used GMap because (at that time) it was free (it was a test) and it utilized Google Maps rather than Microsoft Virtual Earth. It also runs on AS2 rather than AS3 (use UMap if AS3 is required). The way the GMap component retrieves the data can be an issue. GMap goes via an intermediate server to pull map tiles from Google. This can choke under large demand. Check to see if it fits your own requirements (and licence requirements). UMap is different so you would need to look into how it retrieves data.

Adobe Flash
Download the AFC GMap component and install it in Flash. It comes with a help document and example project. Create two layers: one for code the other for the GMap component.
In the GMap layer, drag the GMap component onto the stage.
On the code layer you need it create your window and positional requires. I followed the tutorials from their website (quite straight forward if you are familar with Flash). To get the Lat/Lng you'll need to truncate the Google Maps coordinates as they are too long. Get these from Google Maps as mentioned above in the step by step to getting URL.

Example actionscript code (AS2)

gMap.setMapType("satellite");
gMap.setCenter({lat:-41.258997, lng:174.865925},12);

var point =
gMap.addPoint({lat:-41.258997, lng:174.865925, name:"Matiu/Somes Island, Wellington", description:"Trig Point(56m)", radius:10, strokeRGB:0x000000, strokeThickness:1, fillRGB:0xFFFF00});
point.show();

var posControl =
gMap.addControl(gMap.GPositionControl({visibility:"off"}));
posControl.show();

var zoomControl =
gMap.addControl(gMap.GZoomControl({display:"expanded"}));
zoomControl.align = "top-left";

var typeControl =
gMap.addControl(gMap.GTypeControl({visibility:"off"}));
typeControl.show();

function eventResponder(evnt){
  evnt.target.openInfoWindow({title:evnt.target.name, content:evnt.target.description, contentAutoSize:true, titleRGB:0x000000, contentRGB:0x666666, radius:6, stroke:false, fillRGB:0xFFFF00, fillAlpha:90});
}

// add event listener
point.addEventListener("GEOMETRY_ON_RELEASE", eventResponder);

Publish the finished project (or test it) and you should have a swf file ready to use in a pop up window in your TW tour - that easy!

All this info can be found on the AFC website and Forum.

Hope this helps.