Yesterday was a big day for us. First, we finally released our new admin (yay!), and second, we saw an announcement that Google finally released API tie-ins to their Street View imagery (see my post on Geek Estate or the original announcement). Although we had been getting requests to integrate Street View into our IDX solution (demo) for quite some time now, the imagery was previously only available through Google Maps. However, with the new announcement and release, developers can now hook into the Street View imagery directly.
I / we have been incredibly busy lately, but when we saw the announcement, we knew we had to get this out to our customers ASAP. Well, I’m really happy to announce that it’s already been integrated! Check out this $2.7M Newport Beach beauty to see an example.
While I think it’s a really, really cool feature, there are limitations. First and foremost, it’s (obviously) only available in areas where Google has street view imagery. For example, just because we service the Charleston Trident MLS doesn’t mean that Google has street view there. Second, the placement and centering of the street view imagery is an inexact science at the moment. Our code currently tells Google’s servers where the house is, and they tell us if they have imagery there and then show it. Unfortunately, when Google does find a match, we don’t really know if the match they found actually represents the streets around the house. All that said though, it’s still an absolutely amazing technology that we are very grateful to Google for.
For now, it’s only enabled on our demo account, but if you drop a comment at the bottom with your name and a link to your dsSearchAgent IDX solution, I’ll be more than happy to enable it on your own account. We’ll should be able to add the option to enable / disable it on your own accounts to our new admin either today or Monday.
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Update: You can now easily enable Google Street View in our Control Panel.
I would love to add the new street view option assuming its available in the Washington DC area. Thanks!
Sorry Lynda, it doesn’t look like Google has street view imagery in the DC area.
To see where they _do_ have imagery though, just go to http://maps.google.com, zoom out so that you can see the entire US, and click on the “Street View” button near the top-right. If you see a camera icon on your city, street view imagery is available. Otherwise, keep an eye on the Google LatLong blog (http://google-latlong.blogspot.com/) so you can be updated when they do add imagery for your location.
We would love to add the street view option to our IDX search solution. Here is a link to our web solution: http://idx.diversesolutions.com/Search/830/19
Thanks, Dan
Andrew,
Hello, I hope you are well. I would request that the “Google Street View” please be enabled for our dsSearchAgent IDX solution located at website http://www.propertysalesteam.com .
Please feel free to contact us if we can be of assistance in any way,
Thank you,
Brandon Martin
[email protected]
612-889-2331
Dan and Brandon,
Street view has been added to your accounts as of about 5 minutes ago. It’s so much fun to play with! Enjoy!
Please add it to my site http://idx.diversesolutions.com/search/464/4
Very cool!!!!
Please add to my account http://idx.diversesolutions.com/search/464/4
Thanks
Garry, it’s done.
Please add it to our account: http://idx.diversesolutions.com/search/361/27/
Tim, done.
GREAT PLEASE ADD IT TO MY ACCOUNT
http://WWW.yourfamilyrealtor.net
http://www.joannelaphan.com
@Joanne: We’ve actually added the option to our new beta admin now (http://controlpanel.diversesolutions.com/), so I encourage you to visit that link and login. In there, you’ll be able to enable the street view functionality as well as look over the myriad of other options and features we’ve added to our IDX solution in the past 12 months.
looks great can also add it to my account.
ALso I cannot log in ..today..where is the login box ?
please add the street view function
Please add this to my site = http://idx.diversesolutions.com/search/869/15/
It is great yoy guys are one step ahead of erveyone else.
Ian,
Andrew has added an “enable” option in the new control panel. Under dsSearchAgent “Options” menu is where you will find the check box that enables Google Street View.
http://controlpanel.diversesolutions.com Log in using your existing username and password. Direct yourself to the “Search Page” tab
Yes! Please add this to my site = http://idx.diversesolutions.com/search/943/3
Thanks,
Andy
310-251-8406
@Andy,
Please see either my comment or Corey’s comment above. You can now enable this in your control panel. I’ve updated the blog post accordingly.
It is interesting to witness the flood of requests which is so great that it would make you drop what you are doing and quickly implement a change to the control panel. Great idea though and I am glad that you made the change. Keep up the great work. I know you guys work hard and work late.
Such a cool new feature! I’m originally from Chicago, but am now working and living in Atlanta. I miss Chicago sports so when I’m feeling in the dumps I just type in Wrigley Field to Google Maps and suddenly it feels as though I’m back home in the friendly confines.
What a wonderful tool for a realtor, I would love to have that enabled here in Sacramento.
We;ll be adding your idx to a new site soon. For now, I’d be happy if someone could just get my Google Map in the featured listings area of my site working. I keep asking but the question is not being answered. Is there something I am supposed to do? If so, just tell me where to go and I will do it myself. You guys have such great ideas and products, but it would be nice if the basics were covered too.
Pete – The reason that the Featured Properties section on your website is not displaying your listings on the map is because the addresses that you have set are not recognized by Google Maps. The area is too new and Google doesn’t have the map data for them yet. There is another view of your Featured Listings (not IDX) that you can do, which is Single Line View, which will not show the map.
Yeah i have streetview, & Bird eyes view on my sites. these are two of the best things i have ever seen. I think it is a must have for any MLS provider