The Business Photos program has been expanded to these three countries

May 1, 2012 14:11 GMT  ·  By

Google is expanding its Business Photos program which enables business owners to add 360 degree panoramic photos of their locations to be published on Google Maps and on their Places pages.

The program enables businesses to hire accredited photographers and have them come and shoot at their locations.

This enables businesses to have their photos added to Google Maps and Google to reach a lot more places than if it had to do it all itself.

The program was already available in several regions in five countries and three more have just been added, Canada, Ireland and the Netherlands.

"Through the Business Photos program, if you’re a business owner in any of these locations around the world, getting started is easy. Just hire a Trusted Photographer in your area to take pictures of your establishment at a time convenient for you," Google explained.

"Panoramas are created using the photos, and customers can easily find the resulting panoramic images on Google.com, on Google Maps, and on your Google Places listing," it added.

Google's solution is a rather elegant one and one that supports the local economy, even if it's in a small way. On the one hand, professional photographers in an area can make some extra money by creating panoramic photos of these locations. All they have to do is enlist into the Google program to be approved.

On the other hand, more restaurants or small local shops from around the world can have these panoramic photos, shot by professionals, made available online benefiting their business.

In the end, it's the users that benefit as well, having the option to explore a place before visiting it could make them much more eager to go there or, if they're not impressed, to avoid the place.