Since 1955, the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) has helped track Santa Claus's movements on Christmas Eve. Now Google is joining in the search.

Google has developed a downloadable iGoogle gadget for Google Earth to help track Santa's movements in conjunction with NORAD, according to Google. The tool, "an enhanced 3D Santa-tracking experience," will be available at 4 p.m. EST on Christmas Eve at noradsanta.org, wrote Carrie Farrell on Google's corporate blog.

It's not a coincidence that Farrell is the granddaughter of Col. Harry Shoup, who was the director of operations for NORAD's original Santa tracker, which was a special hotline number that a Sears Roebuck & Co. store advertised for kids to call. Shoup's staff checked radar data for indications of a sleigh making its way from the North Pole, according to the blog post. NORAD has continued the tradition ever since.

"I can remember tracking Santa with my grandfather as a child, and I'm so proud to see my company carry on his vision of doing something this special for kids around the world," Farrell wrote in the blog post.

This year, Santa watchers can use Google Maps, Google Search, iGoogle and YouTube to track his progress, according to Google.