Google Street View Hits Netherlands

Last week a great fuss was made when Google Street View hit the UK. Sliding under the radar was the fact that it also went live in the Netherlands.

Google Street View cars equipped with 3D laser cameras were first seen on the streets of The Netherlands last May.

So far Google Street View covers only three large cities in Holland: Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Groningen.

funda.nl was chosen as launch partner for The Netherlands.

The company’s marketing manager, Jeroen Wilhelm, says funda.nl has been using Google maps for some years now: “We seem to be one of the largest clients of Google within Europe, maps-wise”.

Jeroen says funda.nl incorporated Street View into website the day it went live.

The company also says that rumours that funda.nl had undertaken its own mapping of The Netherlands are untrue. However, from 2005 funda.nl did incorporate 21 million street photos onto the website (having purchased the cyclomedia database) with national coverage.

Having launched Street View in France, Spain and Italy last year, Google has also added more cities to Street View in these countries, around the south of France, Zaragoza and the Amalfi coast. While it’s been put to many uses, from tourist boards to property portals, Street View seriously enhances a user’s ability to get to know the local area, while perusing properties online.

Street View has also been the subject of controversy over privacy, and has spawned websites like streetviewnederland.nl, which highlights some of the more interesting and unusual things the Google cameras have captured in The Netherlands.

In the UK findaproperty.com was chosen as launch partner and Street View has also just been adopted by Scotland’s s1homes.com so Scottish homeseekers can take a virtual walk around every property for sale or rent in Scotland’s four main cities.

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