14 DAY TRIAL // Google launched Street View in the UK in March this year and, like in many places around the world, it has seen its fair share of controversy and opposition there too. So in order to get the public on its side Google Street View UK has added a few popular sites, some real, some less so. While everyone has heard of Stonehenge, Coronation Street, a fictional location in the soap opera with the same name from the British ITV network, may be less familiar for those outside the country.
Coronation Street will become the first fictional location available in Street View and the move was made in collaboration with ITV's digital agency BBH as part of an ad campaign to promote the show's recently revamped web site. The fans of the show will be able to see exactly how the street looks from a 360 degree perspective and images should become available on the TV show's site in the coming months.
As for the tourist locations that will make it to Google's Street View site, the company actually had a poll with over 35,000 people voting for the 16 finalists. Six locations have been chosen and will be visited by the Street View trikes this summer. The full list of the landmarks is: Stonehenge, Millennium Stadium, Angel of the North, Loch Ness, Eden Project and Warwick Castle. Bamburgh Castle will also be photographed after being selected by VisitBritain, the national tourism agency, separate from the main poll.
"We've seen a tremendous amount of enthusiasm from British people to get their favourite places onto Street View. Now it's down to our super fit tryclists to get cracking and photograph these places so that curious historians, students and tourists all over the globe can soon admire the country's heritage and plan their next weekend away," a Google spokesperson said.
The new locations should help change the minds of some UK citizens as many have been reluctant about the service with residents of Broughton village forming a human chain and stopping the Street View car because of fears of attracting burglars.