Google Street View – Right, Wrong or Just a PR/Marketing Ploy

In recent years the amount of videos and images on the web has grown and expanded to a huge extent. Recent reports from Google suggest that image/video searches have become more and more popular leading to a rapid rise in how-to videos, internet machinimas and video parodies. The ability to see and effectively visualise your way through a problem has made image/video search extremely popular throughout Googleland. You no longer have to read reams and reams of material on a subject like global warming. Instead, all you have to do is head to YouTube and find the best instruction video for whatever it is you happen to stuck on.

On the 15th Feb 2005 three ex Pay-Pal workers registered a domain name that was later to become one of the biggest and quickest growing websites in the world. The domain was YouTube.com. Sensing that the net was moving towards and becoming a more visual and media centred tool, Google duly jumped in and bought YouTube for a snip at 1.65bn.

Continuing with the success of YouTube, Google launched Google Maps and Google Earth which became instant hits with net-surfers. Now Google has decided to release its’ long awaited StreetView. For those of you living in a bubble StreetView is a full 360 degree panoramic interactive photo of certain cities throughout the UK and the world. StreetView allows users to move from location to location, to spin around, and to zoom in and out of any given street within the 25 cities surveyed.

Google's watching you....

Visually it’s spectacular, a true triumph of modern technology that allows you to virtually visit any location stored within the database. However, StreetView has come under increasing criticism since its release. One person described it as a burglars dream come true stating that it allowed any criminal to accurately case any job from the comfort of his own home. Many others have complained to the ICO suggesting that StreetView is infringing on public privacy and potentially exposing people to intense public scrutiny. Several complaints including one from a woman who had escaped her violent husband and one from two work colleagues who were spotted in a compromising position have been upheld and have had their images removed. Cherie and Tony Blair have also requested to have their Connaught Square townhouse removed from StreetView. Another person’s house that does not appear on StreetView is Google’s UK boss Dennis Woodside, which to me slightly smacks of hypocrisy.

So what is the point of Google StreetView? What are the major benefits of having a 360 panoramic view of the streets of England? Well as a frame of reference it’s quite useful, but we already have Google maps and street names to orientate ourselves. Estate agents apparently say it’s quite useful for people looking at houses, but surely if you were buying a property you would want to check out the surrounding area in person. To be honest I think it’s as useful as a sofa without any padding. It appears to be a burglar’s wet dream and a visual representation of our ever growing big brother society. To be frank I believe that it was a huge PR/marketing ploy designed and specifically aimed at causing controversy. This deliberate act had one intention and that was to provide Google with mass media coverage in an effort to bump up market shares and awareness for their various other retail products.

Only time will tell if StreetView survives through the increased controversy and governmental moderation. Whatever occurs thou I am sure that Google made a pretty penny from all the hype that surrounded it.

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