Frequently Asked Questions

1. What is Street View? How can I see it?
2. What types of vehicles do you use to collect Street View?
3. In which parts of the world is Street View available?
4. How is Street View imagery created?
5. What are the benefits of making my property available in Street View?
6. What types of properties is Google currently interested in promoting?
7. Can a property anywhere in the world apply?
8. How can I make my property available in Street View?
9. Does filling out the submission form obligate me to participate in the Partner Programme?
10. How will I know if my property has been selected by Google?
11. How does Google collect imagery without disrupting my property's operations?
12. What does Google have in place to ensure privacy and legal compliance?
13. I signed the permission form but still haven't heard from Google. What should I do?

1. What is Street View? How can I see it?

   Street View is a feature available in Google Maps, Google Earth and Google Maps for mobile that allows users to explore the world through 360-degree street-level imagery.

2. What types of equipment do you use to collect Street View?

   We typically use a car to collect Street View imagery, but some of the most interesting and fun places aren’t accessible by car. To help us visit places with smaller paths and unique terrain, we’ve designed three other imagery collection platforms: the Trike, the Trolley and the Snowmobile. Learn more about them in the cars, trikes & more section of our Street View site.

3. In which parts of the world is Street View available?

   We provide street-level imagery for almost every major metropolitan area in the US, as well as several national parks and other areas of public interest. We're also continuing to expand Street View coverage internationally and we now have imagery on all seven continents! To see all of the locations where Street View is available, you can browse the map on our Street View site.

4. How is Street View imagery created?

   Street View imagery is gathered by cars, or other platforms, equipped with advanced imaging technology. Once the photographs have been taken, they go through computer processing to make them ready for showing on Google Maps. We take all the individual photos that have been collected by the cameras and "stitch" them together to make the 360-degree panorama that you see on Google Maps. We then apply cutting-edge face and licence plate blurring technology to help ensure that passers-by in the photographs can't be identified.

5. What are the benefits of making my property available in Street View?

   Your property will gain exposure on Google Maps and Google Earth. Millions of users will be able to visit your property from the comfort of their own homes, or preview it to help them decide on a visit. In addition, by using our Street View API, you can embed Street View imagery of your property into any of your own web sites, and set it up however you like to show virtual tours or other advanced features. Best of all, it's free!

6. What types of properties is Google currently interested in promoting?

   We are looking to gather images of areas that are interesting to our users. Some of the properties that we are currently interested in include zoos, parks, universities, amusement parks, outdoor marketplaces, monuments and tourist destinations (to name a few). However, we are always open to new ideas so please let us know if you have a great idea that our users would love to see.

7. Can a property anywhere in the world apply?

   Yes! It's great to see interest from around the world. However, we may not currently have specific platforms available in your country, in which case we will keep your request on file for future opportunities. We're currently gathering imagery for our Partner Program in several countries and regions in Asia, Europe, and North America.

8. How can I make my property available in Street View?

   We're always looking for new and exciting sites to collect. If you would like to include your property in Street View, follow these easy steps:

   1. Read over this FAQ.
   2. If you feel that your property would be interesting to our users, please fill out the submission form.
   3. If we determine that your property is a good fit, we'll reach out to you for additional details, so please make sure your information is accurate and complete! Unfortunately, due to the high volume of requests, we cannot respond to every submission.

9. Does filling out the submission form obligate me to participate in the Partner Programme?

   No. If you are selected, we will contact you with more details and to invite you to sign up.

10. How will I know if my property has been selected by Google?

    If your property is selected, we'll reach out to you as soon as possible to invite you to join the Partner Programme and to set up a mutually convenient time to collect. Due to the high volume of requests, you will hear from us only if we are able to include your property. Thanks for understanding!

11. How does Google collect imagery without disrupting my property's operations?

    If your property is selected, we will reach out to you to discuss the best way to collect imagery of your property. We have different types of camera platforms we can use depending on the characteristics of your property. We have collected hundreds of locations and will work with you to ensure that collection goes smoothly.

12. What does Google have in place to ensure privacy and legal compliance?

    Street View contains imagery which is no different than what you might see if you visited the property in real life. To help protect user privacy, we have developed cutting-edge face and licence plate blurring technology that is applied to all Street View images, and provide easily accessible tools allowing users to request further blurring of any image that features the user, their family, their car or their home. Users can also request the removal of images that feature inappropriate content (for example: nudity or violence). To learn more, please visit the privacy section of our Street View site.

13. I signed the permission form but still haven't heard from Google. What should I do?

    Due to the popularity of the Street View Partner Programme and our limited availability, we can't guarantee that we'll be able to collect your property. However, we will try our best to fulfil as many requests as we can and we'll try to contact you as soon as possible.