I have just had a severe slow down on Both Google Maps and Earth (Streetview)
  Page load  were talkind  several mins  on a Normally fast  connection  ca 4MB

and often the end results where corrupted

 Bit this is NOT due to a server  related fault  It is  In My case Internet Explorer 8.0  which has gone walkabout
 The Fix  Reinstall IE 8 .0 frpm the backup file (Overwites the Files  (No repair option  like IE 7.0 )and reset then Try again ...30 seconds work!

 The same fix will work with all other Browsers bar Chrome which  "Lends" off IE ect.