Google launches Street View effort 15 years after controversial effort

PARIS: Google kicked off its mammoth and hugely controversial effort to photograph streets in minute detail across the globe on Monday, May 24th, 15 years since it kicked off its mammoth effort to photograph streets in minute detail.

The panoramic images of Google Street View have slipped into daily life for millions, but it attracted countless court cases and howls of anguish from privacy campaigners during its early years.

The US tech giant has released a number of new features, including an improved version of the time travel tool that allows users to see previous photos taken by Google's cameras.

The firm also published lists of the most popular destinations for users - with Burj Khalifa in Dubai taking the top spot for buildings, followed by the Eiffel Tower and the Taj Mahal.

Indonesia was the most popular country for Street View, ahead of the United States, Japan, Mexico and Brazil.

The Indonesian capital Jakarta was the most searched city, beating Tokyo, Mexico City, Sao Paolo and Buenos Aires.

In a blog post, the firm said it had collected 220 billion images and travelled more than 10 million miles since the first images were released of cities such as San Francisco, New York and Miami.

It has provided armchair travellers with panoramic views everywhere from the peak of Everest to the depths of the Great Barrier Reef.

As Google expanded its reach, it drew widespread criticism and years of scrutiny from regulators in several European countries - large parts of Germany are still not included in the tool.

It has faced several embarrassing moments when it has taken pictures of a private nature.

In 2013, the firm photographed a couple having sex next to their car on an otherwise deserted road in Australia, and the picture briefly made it onto the platform.