San Francisco — Ever wonder which pizza restaurant you went to last time you were in town? Well, Google has now made it easier to find out businesses in Street View in Google Maps to refresh your memory. A recent update to Google Street View drops an informational pin on the location, when a user does a local search, the bubble that pops up on business results will show a Street View link.
The latest enhancement to Google Maps is not that big, but it should make it just a little bit easier to find that business you have been searching for. Now let us say after you are up and dressed, you want to grab some pizza. Simply click on the “search nearby” link and enter “pizza.” Google pulls you out of the street view to show the closest places to grab a slice. The company has added a link to Street View directly onto the business listing dialog popup on Google Maps.
Clicking on the Street View link will display a 3D photo view, but the dialog box will stay on the map, sitting in front of the business you wish to look for. Since it is Street View, you will also be able to turn from the business and walk down the street to another.
Clicking on these results brings you back to the street view and also holds your original location so you know how far your pepperoni and mushroom pie is from where you whet your appetite.
“We use the position of the business on the map to approximately display it as a 3D marker in Street View,” explains Google in a blog post. “We are continuously working on improving the quality of the underlying map, and this will result in more and more businesses being positioned with high accuracy in Street View over time.”
This YouTube video gives you quick rundown as to how the new features work and makes it appear as though Google knows where to pinpoint every business establishment.
Nevertheless, Google has gone through the most troublesome process of indexing thousands of miles worth or GPS data from its Street View cars against local business results in its index. Then engineers added markers in Street View so that you can actually see which business is in a building.
A few weeks back Google unveiled a Street View Partner Program, which allows organizations and businesses apply to have their property featured in Street View for Google Maps, Google Earth, and Google Maps for Mobile.
Google says that they would not accept every property, but they do have a “Street View Trike,” which is able to ride down narrow paths to get imagery that the regular vehicle cannot get.
To apply to have your business listed on Street View, you have to be the owner or authorized property manager. If you can get it in, it would be a nice way to increase your visibility literally in local searches. This would give an interesting glimpse of the store or restaurant that you own.