Google Earth or Google Maps

I wonder if someone can help. On the Open Gardens website, we have a map with a pin showing the place of each garden. To help people get to the garden, we also have a directions/coordinates section and up to now, I have been inputting Google maps coordinates. That is until I realised that Google map coordinates are different to Google Earth coordinates and that was when I felt my pulse rate increasing. I have visions of people trying to find a garden in La Souterraine and finding themselves admiring the Taj Mahal (which, beautiful though it may be, is not renown for its garden). My question is: do satnavs work off Google Earth coordinates or Google map coordinates......and why on earth aren't they the same? Any advice would be greatly appreciated (to save my embarrassment).

Thanks for any help.

One of the headaches of modern mapping I am afraid, what set of values to follow? In the case of straight forward GPS, they usually follow the  'UTM Grid on WG584'. As far as Google Earth & Google Maps are concerned, you must make sure that both programs are singing from the same hymn sheet. If one takes the SW corner of the church in La Souterraine for example, Google Maps will give the position as 46.237420N  1.486408E but Google Earth gives the same place the reference of 46º14´14.73"N  1º29´11.09"E. With me so far? What you must do is to leave GM as it is, it is difficult to alter, and go into GE and alter it's parameters. With GE open, go to TOOLS, OPTIONS, in SHOW LAT/LONG choose DECIMAL DEGREES. Then both mapping progs. should show the same position.
Personally, I seldom use either of the Google's, but use the IGN map of France.

Hi Le-Dolly
Thanks a lot for the reply - that's really helpful. I would have thought that, with the advances in the science of global positioning, someone would have suggested that the system should be standardised.....but I suppose that's far too obvious. I suspect that having a number of different systems is a recipe for disaster:
"Come in Bluebird; please drop your bombs on coordinates 46.906745, 1.097865"
"Wilco, Ironman, stand by for annihilation in 10 seconds"
"Could I just make it clear, Bluebird, that I am working off the decenn......."
BANG!
"Please repeat your last message, Ironman....I say, please repeat your .....whoops"

Anyway, it resolves my problem and I'm most grateful.

Glad to be of assistance.

tocyvi wrote:That is until I realised that Google map coordinates are different to Google Earth coordinates ....

To be pedantic they're the same coordinates, just expressed differrently.  A bit like Fahrenheit and Celsius: hot is hot and cold is cold whichever scale you use.