Add Your Property to Street View with the Partners Program
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With all of the controversy and issues surrounding Google's Street View program you'd think that everyone was terrified or at least worried about the privacy problems that have popped up. But some aren't only OK with the service, they actually want Google to take photos of their private properties which is why the search giant has a partner program set up. The program isn't exactly geared to the proud home owner wanting to show off his pool but rather created for companies and organizations wanting to benefit from the exposure, but it does show that there are real benefits from being featured in Street View.
“Do you manage a unique property (pedestrian mall, amusement park, university campus, etc.) that users would like to visit in Street View? Through our Partner Program, you can now request Google to collect imagery of your location. Once the images are added to Street View, people all over the world will be able to virtually explore your property,” the site set up for the Partner Program reads.
Google has been adding special locations to Street View for quite a while but has only more recently started allowing anyone to apply to the program. The company is especially interested in locations like "zoos, parks, universities, amusement parks, outdoor marketplaces, stadiums, monuments, tourist destinations, and race tracks." The program proved so successful that Google can't even respond to all of the requests and will only reach out when it is actually ready to shoot the location.
There are several caveats though; anyone in the world can apply but Google will only select locations in the US, Japan and the European countries it has deployed the service to. Also, applicants will have to wait until a Street View car or trike is in the region but the service is completely free and can be a great addition to the properties added. Several famous locations are already available on Street View or are in the process of becoming available and Google just recently visited the Palace of Versailles and made a video to mark the occasion.
If the Google data access method is flexible enough, there is no reason that the insides of buildings couldn't be included in Google Maps and Google Earth (which probably should merge). What if a large museum wanted to allow virtual visitors to walk around? Google would need to add the third dimension, since buildings, unlike most streets, have levels (floors). Or what if a car dealership wanted to allow virtual visitors to tour its showroom and car repair areas?
The type and degree of privacy would need to be included in the data model; privacy is every bit as much a dimension as the 3-dimensional coordinates. Time should also be included, so we can visit the same location to view snow, fall foliage, rain, and sunshine.
The possibilities are endless.
Comment #2 by: Parfeni Lucian on 19 Oct 2009, 08:45 UTC
I think it will be a while before Google might start to offer a service like this. And inside shots wouldn't be much of a "Street" View. But something like this could be integrated into Google Maps and, most likely, someone at Google has already thought about it. As for when and if Google decides to introduce something like this, we'll just have to wait and see.
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