Google labs - experimental search

Just had a quick and fun play with Google's experimental search - map, info and timeline views. Can see the potential for these ideas particularly map, now that geospatial info is becoming so widely used. I'd be interested to learn more about how the map view works - is there a gazetteer behind the scenes? How is Google distinguishing between places which have the same name? This is the sort of results view that would be useful for other search tools e.g. Runners World events listing where you could easily see where future races are, and know instantly if it's somewhere you want to travel to or not (especially if contour info was on there too so the hilly ones can be spotted!).