Google will not charge brands for Streetview presence

Google says it has no plans to monetise its controversial Streetview service by offering integrated advertising.

Speaking at Google’s 2009 Zeitgeist event, founder Larry Page and chief executive Eric Schmidt (pictured) denied that they will charge brands to have their businesses or ad billboards shown on the service.

The company has added some paid-for, highlighted results alongside its maps functions but says that for now, there will be no brand data – such as options to buy popping up when users click on a store in the view of the street – attached to the Streetview service.

“There is no business plan,” says Schmidt. “We are not going to charge to appear in Streetview.”

Brands can, however, request not to appear in Streetview, however.
Since the company has yet to confirm how often it will update the images shown, it is possible that out of date retail images may appear.

“Doing a perfect job is impossible,” said Page.