Google Tip: Street-Level View (real photos) On Google Maps

Amazon’s A9 service used to feature “Block View” photos of 2 dozen major US cities, but sadly they discontinued that service.  It was a real compeitive edge when A9.com had it, but now it looks like Google will use that same concept to their advantage.

Google Maps did spark the last round of competition in the mapping world by adding click-and-drag functionality to online maps and also integrating satellite views to the service.  Quickly others followed suit — all to our benefit.

Now, Google is doing it again… this time, adding real photos from street-level that you can pan and zoom as if you were right there on the sidewalk.

[Click on screen shot thumbnail to get full-size image]

You can see continuous, 360 degree connected photos that were taken by cars driving around major cities across the country.  As time goes by, more and more photos will be added so that you can see which storefronts are on every block of the map.

It so useful for when you’re meeting up with a friend in a new neighborhood.  You can simply look up the neighborhood on Google Maps Street View and figure out which coffee shop or landmark you’d like to meet up at.