Annual battle of Santa Trackers launches as Google takes on Microsoft-NORAD

Competition never takes a holiday. And so, on Christmas Eve, we find Google and Microsoft renewing their annual Santa Tracker rivalry.

Google has its own Santa Tracker, which went live today as the jolly fat man began his global trek. Google’s site detects your location and estimates St. Nick’s distance, along with a running tally of how many presents Santa has delivered.

With Google, you can use your browser to make a Santa’s elf boogie in a Google code game. Or you can get the Chrome browser extension that will let you get updates in your browser without having to undergo the time-consuming process of visiting the actual website.

Above: Google’s Santa Tracker

Meanwhile, for the third year, Microsoft has partnered with the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) to power a Santa Tracker that offers special tidbits to users of Windows 10, Microsoft’s Edge Browser, and Cortana.

According to Microsoft, there is now an online coloring book (via Windows 10 and the Edge browser only) and an “image carousel” of places Santa visits.

And with Cortana, kids can just speak into their mobile gadget or computer to ask where Santa is without having to go through the time-consuming process of typing things.

Put them together, and you have two fun ways for the kids to track Santa all day while mom and dad pound egg nog and await the tumult of Christmas morning.