Imagery Partner Program from Google

Google has introduced an imagery partner program where people can submit imagery for Google Earth if they feel they have a better version of a shot that Google currently has.

"When people think about Google Earth, they often think satellite imagery. Yet, since the early days of Google Earth, we've been working with local governments and other public sector organizations to add their aerial imagery as well," explains Scott Ciabattari at the Google Lat Long Blog. "Thanks to this data sharing, we're able to offer our users a more current representation of thousands of communities and a higher resolution view of countless geographic features."

"With this week's launch of the historical imagery feature in Google Earth, we're now able to partner with public sector organizations and other imagery content providers to present users a view of their community or geographic features, such as mountains or lakes, evolving over time," he adds.


Google has set up a couple new sites where potential content providers can get involved. First off is what Google refers to as a "wecome mat" for organizations to share their aerial imagery. But this is really only part of the equation since they offer opportunities for submitting other kinds of imagery. The gateway to all of these can be found at the new site for Map Content Partners, located simply at google.com/mapcontent.

Google welcomes 3D building and digital terrain models, aerial imagery (current and historical), some types of vector data (boundaries, points of interest) and public transit system routes and schedules. Content providers will have to enter a license agreement with Google.Much more information is provided in the FAQ.

Source: Chris Crum