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Level 9

Street View can automatically pick incorrect views

Google Maps ViewGoogle Maps View

Street View of a truckStreet View of a truck

Jeff Muir
Admin - Global Guides
4 comments
Level 9

Re: Street View can automatically pick incorrect views

Sorry that I could not include the text in the above post. The editor in iPad Chrome made it almost impossible to change.

 

The issue has been going on probably ever since Street View began. The automated process of capturing pictures of businesses makes many assumptions. One of the most spectacular mistakes is when no one checks to see if it is a clear shot. The photos above demonstrate Street View thinking it is taking a picture of a petrol station when really it is taking a picture of a truck. This happens more than people would suspect.

 

I propose that it should be possible to manually select from Street View to pick a good picture of the business. This could be done either by trying a different angle from the road OR selecting a different timeframe. It is entirely possible to do and would enhance the value of Street View.  It is clear that Street View does not accurately capture the businesses in at least 25% of the time. Having some manual intervention would give the users better results with Google Maps.

 

For those that think it might be better just to take a picture instead of adjusting Street View, that is true. However, each individual person only has the ability to take pictures in a fairly small region. Fixing Street View images of businesses could be done on a much larger scale with more people. For example, this petrol station has this image as its main picture. I would have to take the time and effort to go there to take the picture. That would take at least an hour of my time. Fixing it online would be possible in less than a minute.

 

This idea has been bouncing around in my mind for the last year. It still seems relevant and would greatly enhance the images for businesses that have not yet had any pictures taken.

 

Regards,

Jeff

Jeff Muir
Admin - Global Guides
Connect Moderator

Re: Street View can automatically pick incorrect views

Hi @JeffMuir if the owner of the business claims the business they can influence which images are seen first (I'm not sure if this applies to the Street View image). For you, open the Street View image and report it using the options available within the App. Street View is automated so sometimes things like this simply happen. I don't think its that big a deal because if you step right or left along the street then you'll likely have a view which does show what you want to see.

 

Regards Paul

Level 9

Re: Street View can automatically pick incorrect views

@PaulPavlinovich,

Thanks for the reply. Your feedback is valid. Business owners could shoot their own pictures or pick corporate standard ones. Google users could just select the Street View and move to a better position or timeline. The overall problem is that these two things are not commonly done. In many cases, people just do not know that these things are even possible. To me, it is strange that petrol station chains are not using Google Maps to support their brands. When people search for petrol, Google is going to provide the closest ones. When the search results come back, it shows a summary and the selected picture. If there are no pictures available, it will use Street View. The Street View picture could potentially be wrong. The presented image is partially what is used to judge the location. If two petrol stations are about the same distance, there is a good chance that the motorist will choose the station with the picture that is correct. This seems to reflect human nature.  Very few will take the time to find a good picture. Most will not even know that it is possible to do something like that. Others will not have the time to go virtual scouting. The point is that it would be helpful to have the correct picture from the start.

 

In the example I gave earlier, I found another potential solution. The location for the petrol station was not precise. I moved the location to the actual station. Hopefully when it matches addresses to Street View, the image will improve.

 

In the bigger scheme of things, it probably does not matter that the image is wrong. My instinct tells me that it is affecting people's choices. It seems a shame that this cannot be fixed by people in the Local Guides program. The overall idea is that raw data is there (Street View), but the program that selects the photos for businesses needs some help in some cases. The current mechanism of reporting images seems very disconnected from action. I do not think I have ever seen a reported image being changed/removed based on my suggestion. The photos mentioned were clearly incorrect for that location. Once a picture is in Google Maps, it is very rare for it to leave.

 

Thanks again for taking the time to reply.

Best regards,

Jeff

Jeff Muir
Admin - Global Guides
Connect Moderator

Re: Street View can automatically pick incorrect views

Yes I find it interesting too @JeffMuir that more businesses don't make even the slightest effort to monitor and control their brand through the biggest mapping platform out there. Oh, actually I do know, it's because the vast majority of marketing people are blind Apple users and hate Google :). Now there's a nice generalisation.

 

Regard Paul