Google Street View is launched in South Africa

Google Street View first launched in May 2007 in several cities in the United States and over time, began to expand its reach worldwide. As of a few days ago, South Africa was added to the mix.

With the 2010 FIFA Soccer World Cup upon us, it makes sense that this development has arrived in time for foreigners to get 360 degree street-level views of their travel destinations, stadiums, accommodation and areas they are interested in visiting to get a better idea of where they are going before they actually go there.

Google began taking Street View photos in South Africa in September, driving about 64 000 kilometres across the country and covering some 27 towns and cities. This development is great news for the tourism industry, bringing South Africa’s many beautiful sights to cellular phones and PC’s worldwide and helping tourists to get better acquainted with our streets.

Street View has a number of benefits, such as checking out the exact location of a place you need to be, looking at parking options, finding a restaurant or accommodation that suits you, looking for the best spot to watch an event taking place in the streets and checking out the inside of a sports stadium. Some have even said that it helps prevent you from getting a parking ticket! And if nothing better to do, Google Street View will definitely provide you with a way to pass the time.

For the real estate business, Google Street View is a very useful tool. House hunters are able to view real estate without having to physically go there and can make their own decisions about the property and its neighbourhood. Real estate companies in the United States have begun to see the value in Google Street Views and are including it in their websites. This real estate company offers street views on all their properties (scroll down to “Maps and Views” and click in “Street View”).

Google’s ultimate goal is to provide street views of the entire world but Google Street View has come under fire for apparently invading privacy. Google has responded to these claims by saying that they are only providing users with imagery that is in the public sector already. Google Street View also features technology that blurs both faces and licence plates and will remove images that are reported as a problem by users. Google Street View South Africa states that they have “gone to lengths to safeguard privacy while allowing all South African users to benefit from this feature.”

About Margot

Margot Knight has written 8 post in this blog.

Margot is the newest member of the WebGrowth team. She is passionate about copywriting and has an inspired desire to grow her knowledge of online marketing.

• View all posts by Margot →
• Blog