Finally, Google Street View comes to SouthEast Asia. Singapore Gets it First

Back in May 2007, Google launched the ‘Google Street View’  in five US cities which later expanded to different cities all over the world. The service provides users with a 360-degree horizontal and 290-degree vertical panoramic street-level view on Google Maps.

This amazing ground-level imagery service is now launched in Singapore making it the first country in Southeast Asia and the fourth country in Asia Pacific after Japan, Australia and New Zealand to have Google Street View.

The service is now live at Google Maps SG. This service surely would change and boost businesses in Singapore, local organizations could post their business listing on the map and embed the street view directly on their websites.  Websites like GoThere.sg , iProperty.com.sg ,PropertyGuru.com.sg could be the primary websites profiting from it by integrating Google Street View in their service.

The Singapore Tourism Board (STB), is very pleased with Street View’s ability to showcase some of Singapore’s best-loved tourist attractions and hidden gems to a global audience.

Mr Ken Low, Assistant Chief Executive (Marketing), STB, said “STB is very excited by Street View’s marketing potential as it will further raise Singapore’s prominence and reach through the Internet. People unfamiliar with Singapore can now get a first look at our city. The convenience of Google Maps, and the Street View feature, will give people from anywhere in the world a much better idea and picture of what Singapore looks like, and what it has to offer and we welcome private sector initiatives such as these which help us add value to our visitors’ experiences.”

Despite being a service welcomed by most, Street View has always invited controversy over privacy issues in many countries since its launch. To address this, Google uses a computer algorithm to red flag the image data received and blurring the faces and car license plates. The company says that the pictures users see on Street View can be a few months to a few years old, depending on the time lapsed between when the images were collected and processed. There are also tools for a user to request removal of pictures with inappropriate content.