Google Street View reveals photo highlights as it turns 15

From the White House at Christmas to Venice canals, Google Street View’s photo highlights as it turns 15 (and it reveals an ASDA SUPERMARKET is one of the most-searched UK locations)

  • Street View has revealed the 20 most-searched-for locations in the UK from April 2021 to 2022 
  • Asda Nottingham West Bridgford Supercentre makes an unexpected appearance at 13th in the table 
  • Google has calculated that over the past 15 years, Street View cars have travelled over 10million miles 

Google Street View turns 15 today – and to celebrate it has released some of its picture highlights, from the White House at Christmas to Venice canals and the Eiffel Tower.

It has also revealed the 20 most-searched-for locations in the UK from April 2021 to 2022, and it’s London’s Big Ben that’s No.1, followed by Manchester United’s Old Trafford stadium (second), Buckingham Palace (third) and Stonehenge (fourth), with Asda Nottingham West Bridgford Supercentre making an unexpected appearance at 13th in the table.

Google has calculated that over the past 15 years, Street View cars have travelled over 10million miles – a distance that circles the entire globe more than 400 times – and collected more than 220billion images from more than 100 countries and territories in the world.

Google Street View turns 15 today – and to celebrate it has released some of its picture highlights. One is the White House at Christmas (above)

A Google Street View capture of the waterways of Venice. Street View has collected more than 220billion images since 2007

A Google Street View operator captures the delights of Venice from a gondola

The other photo highlights that Google picked out for its Street View birthday are the Taj Mahal, a floating market in Thailand, the International Space Station, Japan’s cherry blossom, Yosemite National Park, the Great Barrier Reef, and the Colorado River (‘in a boat!’).

The rest of the top 10 most-searched-for UK locations is made up of the British Museum (fifth), London Bridge (sixth), Folkestone White Horse (seventh), the London Eye (eighth), the University of Oxford (ninth), and Wembley Stadium (tenth).

At the top of the bottom half of the 20-place ranking is Liverpool FC’s Anfield stadium (11th), followed by – aside from the previously mentioned Asda supermarket – the Tower of London (12th), Chelsea FC’s Stamford Bridge stadium (14th), London’s Tower Bridge (15th), Windsor Castle (16th), Manchester City’s Etihad Stadium (17th), Trafalgar Square (18th), Warner Bros. Studio Tour London (19th) and Cheshire’s Daresbury Hall (20th).

Google Street View is proud of this image – captured from a boat on the Colorado River

The Eiffel Tower and the spellbinding view across Paris is a Street View hit

Google Street View went underwater in 2012 to capture Australia’s Great Barrier Reef

Google said in a statement that it is announcing ‘some exciting developments for Street View that all serve to fuel people’s curiosity about new places and even their past’.

It continued: ‘We know that our Maps users love to travel back in time with Street View – to revisit their childhood home or see how their neighbourhood has evolved over the years.

‘That’s why from today, we’re making it possible to see historical Street View imagery straight from your phone for the very first time.’

Google Street View was dreamed up by Google co-founder Larry Page in 2004, with the service launching in five cities in 2007.

The Damnoen Saduak Floating Market in Thailand is an arresting Google Street View capture

Time for a revelation: London’s Big Ben is the most popular Street View search in the UK

Stonehenge was the fourth-most-popular Street View search in the UK between April 2021 and 2022


In 2012 Google Street View dispatched hikers to the Grand Canyon (left). Camel-back desert imagery was captured in 2014 (right)

Asda Nottingham West Bridgford Supercentre makes an unexpected appearance at 13th in UK Street View search ranking

MOST-SEARCHED-FOR UK LOCATIONS ON GOOGLE STREET VIEW, FROM BIG BEN TO ASDA

1. Big Ben

2. Old Trafford

3. Buckingham Palace

4. Stonehenge

5. British Museum

6. London Bridge

7. Folkestone White Horse

8. London Eye

9. University of Oxford

10. Wembley Stadium

11. Anfield

12. Tower of London

13. Asda Nottingham West Bridgford Supercentre

14. Stamford Bridge

15. Tower Bridge

16. Windsor Castle

17. Etihad Stadium

18. Trafalgar Square

19. Warner Bros. Studio Tour London

20. Daresbury Hall

Source: Google, using data from April 2021 to 2022. 

 

In 2008 images began to be collected by trikes, by 2010 by snowmobiles and in 2012 Google went underwater to capture the Great Barrier Reef.

Trekking image capture also launched in 2012, with camera-equipped hikers dispatched to roam the Grand Canyon.

Camel-back desert imagery was captured in 2014, an active volcano in 2017 and in 2020 Google launched ‘Live View’, an augmented reality tool in Google Maps that projects directions onto the display of a phone when it’s in camera mode.

Street View cars have travelled over 10million miles – a distance that circles the entire globe more than 400 times

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