High quality photos, videos, and other media help people all over the world find relevant information about places. Low quality media may be removed; quality removals can’t be appealed.
Follow these tips for posting high quality media to Maps.
Content & formats- Use media that you captured. Upload media of a place that you captured using a camera. Avoid screenshots, stock photos, GIFs, collages, heavily edited or otherwise manipulated photos, or imagery created by other parties.
- Create the media at the location you’re posting to. Relevant photos and videos are created at the location you’re posting about.
- Focus on the location. The location should be the primary subject of the content. Media where something other than the place is the main focus, such as selfies that emphasize a person or group, is less helpful for people trying to decide where to go.
- Keep media simple. Minimal stylistic adjustments, such as correcting rotation or improving lighting, can be helpful. For 360 photos, blurring faces and license plates helps protect people’s privacy. Avoid excessively dark or rotated images. Avoid adding elements such as borders, text, or collaged images.
- Keep media real. Using filters is OK as long as the media still provides a clear, accurate depiction of the place. Avoid heavy filters.
- High resolution is best. High-resolution images help others see what a place is like. Avoid blurry or out-of-focus imagery.
- Stable videos are the most helpful. Avoid shaky, out-of-focus, or distorted or corrupted videos.
- Make sure superimposed content is relevant. Promotional content should be relevant to the place that the media is posted for. Other superimposed content may not help people using Maps.
- For 360 photos, limit superimposed content to either the top or bottom 25% of the equirectangular image. When you drive to collect Street View, do not use any Google branding elements in the nadir or zenith of your 360 images. This includes any rooftop graphics that are visible to the camera.
- For other media, avoid including distracting or inappropriate superimposed content.
- 360 photos wrap 360º without any gaps in the horizon imagery. Images don’t have to extend top to bottom. Minor gaps or holes between the top and bottom edges are acceptable, as are minor stitching errors.
- The best resolution for 360 photos is at least 4K (a resolution of 3,840 pixels by 2,160 pixels or greater).
- Create links between nearby vantage points when connecting 360 photos. Creating links elsewhere may disorient people who are exploring your connected 360 photos for the first time.
- Maps may alter connections to improve viewing. When multiple 360 photos are published to one area, connections between them may be automatically generated. To ensure a realistic, connected viewing experience, we may adjust, remove, or create new connections, and adjust the position and orientation of your 360 photos.
- Place pins/dots accurately when publishing multiple 360 photos in an area. Using pin/dot proximity or the resulting blue line map visualization to write or draw over the map is distracting to others.
- When you drive to collect Street View. You can only display your own or your sponsor’s graphics such as brand or logo. On a vehicle, do not display any Google branding elements, that include the Street View and Google Maps icons.
Refer to the Prohibited and restricted content guidelines and Maps user-generated content policy for removals based on policy violations.