Street View: the view from Day 2

I suspect I'm not alone in admitting that I spent quite a while using Street View to look up some of my favourite spots in Australia yesterday. I first checked out my neighbourhood in Sydney and then took some time traveling down "memory lane" looking at some of the places I've lived and visited. It was the first time I could share street-level panoramic imagery from Australia with my friends who live overseas.

It was almost overwhelming to see the excitement and interest in Street View from people in every State and Territory yesterday. We've heard from lots of Australians who checked it out - both here and abroad. We've also heard from people overseas who are already scoping out their next holiday destinations here in Australia -- from Airlie Beach to Exmouth and many places in between.

Some of you have asked "when will imagery for my street, my neighbourhood, or my town be available on Street View?" Although the coverage of Australia is extremely comprehensive, rest assured; we are absolutely continuing to add more areas and new public roads throughout Australia so keep your eyes peeled.

Speaking of which, we were thrilled that one of our users found the first ever "Street View Kangaroos":


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Lots of Australian users and businesses are already using Street View in important ways.

We knew property seekers would be thrilled at the ability to use Street View when looking to buy or rent, but within a matter of hours following the feature's availability, the real-estate website, Domain.com.au, integrated Street View into all their property listings across the country. Now, when you look up homes or apartments at domain.com.au, you can walk down the street and see your new neighbourhood.

Google and the Sun-Herald City2Surf have also launched a "flipbook" video using still images from Street View to create a video of the race route, which takes place in Sydney this Sunday (10 August 2008). This is the first time in the world that a fun run has made a video of its course using Street View images. Runners can visualise the route and spectators can find the best vantage point in Sydney to cheer on their friends, co-workers and relatives. And please remember to donate and support the runners!



As a reminder, while Street View contains views from public roads, if you identify any imagery you consider sensitive or inappropriate, you can easily flag it for removal by clicking on "Street View Help" in any Street View window.

To all of you -- those who are long-time users of Google Maps and those who've discovered Google Maps for the first time -- thanks for your excitement and interest. Hope you continue to enjoy your journeys across Australia.

Posted by Andrew Foster, Product Manager