Add Google Basemap to ArcGIS

I agree Google's imagery is better than Bing's in many cases. I also think the answer is correct, that you can't use Google's imagery inside ArcGIS and probably won't be able to - ever. If you're in Minnesota, we've taken a stab at this problem by setting up a "Composite Imagery Service": http://www.mngeo.state.mn.us/chouse/wms/composite_image.html

It is very "Google-like" in that it provides a single layer image service that automatically switches to an appropriate set of air photos or satellite imagery depending on the scale and extent. We update the "low altitude" imagery as much as we can to keep it fresh. The images are provided as a WMS. I know this isn't an answer nationwide, but I thought it would be useful to post this here in case any Minnesota users ask this question. I also encourage other states to do the same thing.

If you are working in the states, you may prefer http://datagateway.nrcs.usda.gov/ as I think neither Google nor ESRI allows to get google maps in your desktop application.

Google in the first place doesn't provide services such as WMS. Please check following links:

http://forums.arcgis.com/threads/40707-Using-Google-Maps-with-ArcMap-10 https://groups.google.com/forum/?fromgroups#!msg/google-maps-api/FORJbnvxICw/hwQeyjvr-CsJ