Google Street View, a popular features of Google Maps, has been gathering street-level images for seven years. Now, SFGate reports, Google has announced its intention to make that cache of images public so that users may observe how landmarks change over time.

1. Google Street View Takes Us Back
In Time
Google Street View, a popular features
of Google Maps, has been gathering
street-level images for seven years.
Now, SFGate reports, Google has
announced its intention to make that
cache of images public so that users
may observe how landmarks change
over time.

2. Google’s intention is to keep compiling
digital records of the same areas as
time passes, effectively keeping a visual
history of communities and geographical
sites around the world. The visuals
contained in the Street View record
show just how much our landscape can
change in under a decade. The process
of recovery in places affected by natural
disasters such as New Orleans or Japan
have been documented. Small changes,
such as advertisements or past fashion
trends may be enough to spark feelings
of nostalgia in some users.

3. The retrospective feature may not be
available for all areas, but
representatives for Google say that
soon most neighborhoods should have
at least one past image available. This
is impressive considering that the Street
View option is available in over 55
countries, and all but three will have the
feature - Germany and Switzerland
restrict the use of older images, and
South Africa’s roll out has been delayed
due to technical problems. Urban areas
have a greater number of total images
because Google’s camera cars must
visit heavily populated areas more
frequently.

4. Google has implemented the policy of
blurring individuals who contact the
company requesting that they not be
displayed in Street View images. The
same policy will stand for people
displayed in retrospective images, so
those afraid of having their questionable
fashion choices available for public
viewing may rest easy.

5. Areas which have a retrospective
available for viewing will have a small
clock in the left corner of the current
Street View image. Users can click on
that clock to view the older pictures. Like
all Google Maps features, the
retrospective images will be free to view.
To read more, check out the full story at
SFGate.