Status of StreetView Trusted Agency Program?

[ZakkL]

Hi! So I currently work for REbranding 360 Inc. and we are a Google StreetView Trusted Agency. We are still listed on the For Hire page as an agency, but the account we use to publish imagery was kicked out of the local guides program. That means we can't get access to the Street View Trusted board on Local Guides Connect and since the Report an Issue form was removed, we have lost almost every form of support we had from Google. I'm just curious what the status of Google Street View Trusted Agencies is? Is there anyone in charge of the Agency Program at Google that we can reach out to? Are there any future plans? Just curious.

[LucioV]

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@ZakkL wrote:

Hi! So I currently work for REbranding 360 Inc. and we are a Google StreetView Trusted Agency. We are still listed on the For Hire page as an agency, but the account we use to publish imagery was kicked out of the local guides program. That means we can't get access to the Street View Trusted board on Local Guides Connect and since the Report an Issue form was removed, we have lost almost every form of support we had from Google. I'm just curious what the status of Google Street View Trusted Agencies is? Is there anyone in charge of the Agency Program at Google that we can reach out to? Are there any future plans? Just curious.

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HI @ZakkL as far as we know the program doesn't make differences between agency and single freelance, at this moment.

So to be trusted you only need to publish at least 50 photospheres, connected or not, using SV App or any other tool, and get published on maps.

The Trusted Board is dismissed too, so the SVTP board on Local Guides Connect is the only support channel (and is moderated by many of the people you already know from SVT program).

[ZakkL]

@LucioV Thanks for the reply. Unfortunately, I can't get into that board because the account our agency uses to publish all of our 360 photos was kicked out of Local Guides. We were given the ultimatum of changing our name and logo or being kicked out. We chose to get kicked out because we didn't want a person's face and name on the thousands of virtual tours we've published, since the clients did business with the agency, not an individual. Also, Local Guides didn't really offer much value at the time. Now that all our support avenues have been taken away by Google, the only thing we have is the SVTP board you mentioned, but we can't get access to it. I'm not even sure if I want to get access to it, because right now on the For Hire page we are listed as an Agency and I don't want to jeopardize that status by having to update contact info and all that stuff.

[LucioV]

I can understand you @ZakkL, the situation is weird.

We are encouraged, as professionals, to be part of Local Guides program, but we have to keep our status of agency/professional under cover.

I'm here as Local Guide, with my personal account, but I'm also a SVT photographer, and I have another G account for publishing purposes (and, eventually, this account is a Local Guide too), but I'm not on the platform, because professional accounts using Company name are not allowed to interact with Connect.

I know, it's a strange situation, but there is some freedom of movement.

Have a nice day.

[ZakkL]

@LucioV Hopefully we can get a Googler to comment on this. I feel like they've been mostly silent when it comes to the Street View Trusted Agency program. It would be nice to get a firm answer so we can move on with our lives LOL.

[ZakkL]

I guess Google doesn't have an answer yet?

[Yohanad]

Hello, @ZakkL

Thanks for the patience, and sorry for taking so long to get back to you. As yourself have explained, it's not allowed to bundle services as trusted pro and as a Local Guides, including having the logo in your account.

We do understand what this implies, and the team is working on the best approach for this.

Meanwhile, feel free to tag me whenever you have doubts about the trusted program.

Best regards,

Yohana

[ZakkL]

@Yohanad So is Google thinking about adding any support for Street View Trusted Agencies since we can't get into the Local Guides Trusted Board? Or does Google not really acknowledge Agencies anymore?