James Fee GIS Blog

30 responses so far ↓

• 1 AlbertW // Aug 5, 2008 at 9:56 am

  You know what? When I first saw it, I thought it was cute. Now that I see the implications of what Google is doing, its hard not to be a little unhappy about it.

  I hope this isn’t a trend, ads in Street View.

• 2 Mike // Aug 5, 2008 at 10:12 am

  There are ads in Google Search. That does not make search worthless or a joke. Remember that Google is a business. How do you think they pay for Street View? Unless everyone is willing to pay for a subscription to use Street View, maybe we should be a little more practical about it. Google may very well intend to put ads in Street View. Why shouldn’t they? As long as it is done reasonably (like in Search), I don’t see the problem.

  And good point about Pictometry. If you want to build a business, it is sometimes necessary to pay for services to make sure you are getting the quality and dependability you need. Street View is great, but as a free service there are bound to be limitations.

  Mike

• 3 MapsRus // Aug 5, 2008 at 10:16 am

  You will notice also that the resolution of the GooglePlex street view imagery is far better than anywhere else, same as the Street View France imagery.

• 4 Ed // Aug 5, 2008 at 10:42 am

  James,

  Where is your sense of romance, pictures of googlers outside the google campus (like last time) don’t represent a new business strategy

  ed

• 5 Matt Giger // Aug 5, 2008 at 10:48 am

  Seems like the same thing as people putting messages on the top of their buildings when they know that Google will be taking aerial photos of an area (like Sydney). Seems like the strategy is anything to get media attention.

• 6 Shaan Hurley // Aug 5, 2008 at 10:51 am

  James,

  I agree with your sentiments. I am not sure you seen my post http://autodesk.blogs.com/between_the_lines/2008/07/google-streetvi.html but I found that the Google StreetView actually trespassed onto the private Autodesk parking lot and caused the streetView to be incorrect for the street. The concern was how are these drivers educated about private property or process or as one UK blogger reported they are hired part time as drivers with little instruction? I don’t see any license plates of cars in the Google parking lots why not the same applied to others?
  I know Microsoft Virtual Earth has a algorythym to automatically blur people and license plates to prevent privacy concerns.

  Cheers,
  Shaan

• 7 Jeff Alu // Aug 5, 2008 at 10:55 am

  As long as they keep it confined to the Google Campus, I’ll be happy…

• 8 James Fee // Aug 5, 2008 at 11:16 am

  @Mike: Google does a darn good job of segregating the ads from the results. I just don’t see how they are doing that with this ad for a proposal.

  @Ed: Slippery slope… Sure humor all fine, but it shouldn’t have been included in the “production” Street Map. Are we going to have easter eggs now in every release of Street View?

  @Shaan: Google did protect the identity of this horse at one point so I suppose we should cut them some slack?

• 9 NYGeog // Aug 5, 2008 at 11:28 am

  It’s a publicity stunt, not unlike ESRI putting people’s pictures of them in places with ESRI gear on in their magazines. Google Streetview has actually been a blessing for pre-site recon for environmental consulting, along with other image mediums of course. I’d rather support Google than Pictometry/Microsoft.

• 10 James Fee // Aug 5, 2008 at 11:35 am

  Sure, but do you use their magazines for work? (beyond taking it in to the bathroom to read I suppose)

• 11 Lefty // Aug 5, 2008 at 11:41 am

  @NYGeog: Sounds like you don’t really care too much about how much quality is in a product, but who makes that product.

  I fail to see why supporting Google or not has any factor to the discussion at hand. I think James might be a little hypersensitive, but he does have a point. They just toss this stuff in there without thinking of the consequences.

• 12 Jamez Fee // Aug 5, 2008 at 12:14 pm

  i’m angry GIS guy! GRRRR!!!

• 13 Chris // Aug 5, 2008 at 1:06 pm

  James,

  Did StreetView image your house on a particularly messy day?

  This sort of thing is already common in aerial photography, whether it’s a commercial ad, someone’s rooftop message to the world, or someone’s idea of field art. It will also start to show up in products like Pictometry, esp. when people are aware of image capture cycles, as they inevitably will. Will Pictometry, or GeoEye, or anyone else, start to remove such artifacts? And won’t that be altering reality?

  Isn’t every storefront or truck-side or billboard in SV or Pictometry or anything else an ad?

  Granted, this is Google hyping Google, but look closely at imagery of all sorts and it’s not that unusual.

• 14 Ed D. // Aug 5, 2008 at 1:07 pm

  I can’t blame the Googlers. When I saw that car come down my cul-de-sac a while back, I went running out the door to try and end up in StreetView. My wife thought I’d lost it.

  If I knew they were coming, I would have dressed up as a gorilla…now that would be funny.

• 15 James Fee // Aug 5, 2008 at 1:18 pm

  @Chris: The difference is that this is staged. If you want to put an ad for Pepsi on your roof in hopes that a satellite will capture the image, I’ve got no problem with that. The difference here is that is like Google telling you that they are going to take a picture of your roof at 1pm on August 5, 2008 and then putting an add up there.

  I think this sets a dangerous precedence for users of this service.

• 16 OnToYou // Aug 5, 2008 at 1:21 pm

  @James

  I’m on to you man. You say no ESRI news this week and to get noticed you put up one of your posts that is just destined to get comments. I suppose that is why we all read your blog.

• 17 Jim // Aug 5, 2008 at 1:22 pm

  oh boy, cry me a river. How does having Google employees in a section of Street View equate to “letting people put messages” in? This isn’t some random company they’ve decided to include advertising for. It only affects one area - THEIR HEADQUARTERS! If you were actually ditched SV because of this, I would say you’re looking for a reason to hate the goog.

• 18 James Fee // Aug 5, 2008 at 1:26 pm

  Hate? Quite a jump there Jim. No where did I say I hate Google, just that I’m unhappy they are playing with something that I’m trying to build on. If they don’t take it seriously, why should I?

  If all you want Street View to be used for is finding people doing dumb things as the Google van drives by then I suppose it doesn’t matter. Read closer to what I said and you’ll see I said I wondered where it would stop. If it stops here then we can get back to actually trying to build businesses on the Google APIs. If they continue throwing junk in the service, then it is a joke.

• 19 Jim // Aug 5, 2008 at 1:33 pm

  Don’t you think calling it a joke is a bit adolescent? I could see taking a mature stance on this and hope they don’t do it again, but you’ve started to condemn them based on a single occurrence. Fine, you don’t like it, good for you. That, however, has little bearing on what is going to happen with the service.

• 20 BlogReader // Aug 5, 2008 at 1:41 pm

  Jim: It is a blog, he is of course going to take an extreme view. Otherwise we’d just all read Directions Magazine to get the “mature” stance.

• 21 NYGeog // Aug 5, 2008 at 2:01 pm

  I’ll take whatever product (free!!!) so long as it suits my need. I end up using Pictometry imagery as much as Google or provided by a gov’t agency and I don’t trust one more so than the others. I’ve often had shadows or dated imagery make me disgruntled about a particular source. Development/property turnover is rampant. I just find that Streetview is fairly up-to-date and yeah I really like Google’s products. You are only limited by creativity when it comes to Google but with ESRI you need like a million bucks for its software packages.

  Anyway people do dumb things all the time - like on TV- just cause some dumb Red Sox fan is waving to the camera doesn’t mean I should discredit the Yankees beating them. haha

  By the way - I wonder if she said yes???

• 22 Anon // Aug 5, 2008 at 2:15 pm

  I’ll take whatever product (free!!!) so long as it suits my need.

  Is that along the lines of “I’ll take free tools over paying people for them and I’m willing to make compromises rather than pay for a tool that best matches my needs”?

  If so that sends chills through my spine.

• 23 Chris // Aug 5, 2008 at 2:15 pm

  James,

  It’s not just this service, it’s all such services, aerial, oblique, street, video, you name it, including those of other companies. When people know an image will be captured, something will be staged. A notification doesn’t need to go out from Google, or GeoEye, or anyone else. People will start to understand the image capture cycle, or will see a press release, or will find out from their social net. As imagery becomes more ubiquitous, there will be more ’stagings’. It might be a gorilla suit, a bad word on a roof, blatant advertising, whatever. It already happens in aerial, we’re still at the very tip of the iceberg.

• 24 Pictometry supporter // Aug 6, 2008 at 3:57 am

  Do not equate Pictometry with Microsoft or google. These are search companies. Want straight down images that are out of date and come from USGS, then use google. And Microsoft is for viewing only. Pictometry offers oblique and detailed ortho imagery, measuring tools including height, moving the image out of the browser, having the detailed images show in ESRI products, lets you export the image, understand the day it was flown, put GIS layers on oblique and few from many years side by side and they just did something with First American that gets you on the domicle. Its not free, but its worth it. Also, it is extremely unlikely you can plan for a Pictometry shoot because it is based on the weather. It may take weeks to fly an area so they certainly won’t know when your house or backyard has something on it. The only company has “advertising” from the air is Target because their logo is permanent. Best!

• 25 Chad // Aug 6, 2008 at 5:19 am

  Hmm, you have to wonder what Google is thinking when you have street views like this. So now we have TB’s of data… of trees. I am sure the “Google FanBoi” will be oohing and ahhing over it.. but what is the point of it? I can look out a window and see trees that look a lot like those.

• 26 SEWilco // Aug 6, 2008 at 10:51 am

  Based on random samples of images from Google StreetView, it is apparent that the Silicon Valley area has the highest population density on the North American continent. Even during a dangerously sunny day, buildings are so crowded that people line the street with futilely engineered paper sunshades. Based on the samples, there must be hundreds of thousands of homeless people in the area.

• 27 Doug // Aug 6, 2008 at 11:41 am

  In general the purpose of a basemap is to not get in the way of an overlay, when you get in the way you negate the usefulness of a basemap. I think this is what James is getting at.

• 28 Ger // Aug 7, 2008 at 7:44 am

  Judging from your photo I wouldn’t think you were old enough to be a cranky curmudgeon

  A group of Google employees helped arrange a unique marriage proposal. Cool!! How long will this imagery stay in Street View? My guess is not long - especially if she says no.

  Is this a harbinger of things to come? Doubtful. But then again what if it is?

  What is the purpose of Street View? Who is it for? How is it intended to be used? Who is paying for it?

  I can only answer the last of those four questions. Generally the ones paying the bills get to make most if not all of the rules.

  If Street View becomes too “cluttered” for some users then those users always have other options - including driving down the streets and taking their own pictures.

• 29 KoS // Aug 7, 2008 at 8:15 am

  Hmmm…this gives me a great idea. I’ll have to find out when they will be in our area, again.

  Stand outside and give it the full moon effect!

  KoS

• 30 w // Aug 11, 2008 at 5:38 am

  Street View is awesome - you people are just whinging geeks - the real world likes SV very much.

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