Are you in favor of Google Streetview project?

[CookieMonster]

I use it for mls too when Bing/Microsoft's satellite and birdseye images on the site aren't enough.

And my brother uses it to give window cleaning quotes.

Just because there's no ads on it right now doesn't mean there never will be, it's perfect for a google yellow pages type of advertising.

 

[gstreetwalker]

At the same time, that could kind of unfairly portray neighbourhoods depending on what was going on when the photos were taken.

You mean, like what happened to this man?

What if you are known as a "nice guy" and then suddenly you found your identifiable face in front of adult stuff thing?

 

[GraphicMatt]

I don't think being seen outside an adult video store on Yonge street is particularly incriminating, unless you're embarrassed to have been seen on Yonge Street.

 

[EnviroTO]

What if you are known as a "nice guy" and then suddenly you found your identifiable face in front of adult stuff thing?

Well wearing that baby blue jacket with a funky pattern on it might be incriminating.

 

[Tacoma]

While I agree that there are some valid privacy concerns with Google's streetview, I think it's an interesting project and provides a huge cool factor to being able to see the streetscape in a city.

However, having said that, what is the actual business value of this project? I fail to see how they are able to make money off of it, as there are no ads or anything that comes with this view, and it sure as heck costs a lot of money to have someone drive around and then process all those images, plus the ongoing hosting.

...I do agree that I don't see how StreetView could ever make Google any money, though. Best I can figure is that they developed it because they want to keep their edge in the online mapping space. If they didn't do StreetView, Microsoft or someone else would have. It's all about mindshare.
...

You guys need think out of the box!! Google's business model which has made them a billion-dollar business has alway been to give stuff away for free and then sell advertisement or other services off it. And they're constantly reinventing themselves and just getting started!

Streetview, IMHO, is huge and the next step using this technology as a base for street-to-street GPS navigation and this has already started in the US with Google Maps Navigation which offers this service for free (to those in the US only for now with the right software and hardware device). Garmin and Tom Tom are shaking in their collective boots! I don't think they have the resources to compete with Google.

This is really the beginning of the next step in GPS map navigation. You can see the real-life street as you navigate instead of a plain graphic map in your Garmin GPS. If, say, you're looking for a shop or restaurant, you can actually see it before you get there and check out where there's parking! I would imagine in the future, you'd have live cameras on all the streets giving you live-to-the-second street navigation and be able spot traffic ahead as they happen before you get there and avoid congestion as they form! This would make traffic reporting services obsolete as well. It's going to get more and more interesting.

 

[Admiral Beez]

However, having said that, what is the actual business value of this project? I fail to see how they are able to make money off of it,

This is why Google will fail, as they can't seem to make a profit on anything other than ads, all the while ad revenue in all media is dropping significantly. Google needs to offer a product or service that people will pay for. They're trying with Google Apps which enable you to use on-line versions of Microsoft Office-like programs, but they won't get rich off of that when most PCs come free with M/S Office already installed.

I wish I'd bought Google stock in the early 1990s, and if I held onto it until 2020, I'd wish I'd sold Google stock in 2009.

 

[MisterF]

(I assume Google Maps is the most popular online maps service today, though there does still seem to be a stubborn group of baby boomers who continue to use 'MapQuest' as a verb, implying some people must still be using that service.)

MapQuest still has its advantages. Google's coverage in rural areas is often abysmal. In small towns and rural areas outside the GTA Google doesn't show basic things like parks and hospitals. It doesn't show county roads very well, rail lines are missing, and lakes are crudely rendered or missing altogether. MapQuest is a lot better at showing that information. Google is better for urban areas though.

 

[Asterix]

I wish I'd bought Google stock in the early 1990s, and if I held onto it until 2020, I'd wish I'd sold Google stock in 2009.

Unless you are being sarcastic, Google wasn't started until 1996 and wasn't incorporated until 1998. A public offering didn't occur until 2004, making it rather difficult for you or anyone else to buy stock in the early 1990s.

Given that their net income is in the billions and continues to climb, I think it might be a little premature to be announcing their imminent demise.