With Google Instant taking up all the search nerd bandwidth on the Internet last week, you’d think Google didn’t announce anything else. But it did. Google noted last week that it had launched a new Web site for Google Earth. The new site is currently English-only (more languages to come) at http://earth.google.com/.

The new site has a link to download Google Earth, of course, but has other content as well. There’s a featured content section that goes beyond Google Earth to show highlights from several properties, including Mars and Earth’s moon as well as the ocean. There are over a dozen video tutorials that range from the very basic (Searching for Places) to the more advanced (Importing KML, KMZ and GPS Data) to Google software that’s related to Google Earth (several SketchUp topics.) There’s also a huge gallery that holds all kinds of content: 360 city panoramas, ancient maps, outdoor trails, castle models… you could be exploring just the galley for hours.

Google Earth is a free download for Mac, PC, and Linux. There’s also a Earth View in Google Maps but alas, my system apparently doesn’t support it. Just as well, I could spend all day browsing the gallery.