Google Streetview could soon feature ads mapped onto real world posters, billboards and buildings if Google implements a recently granted patent. Read on to find out how Google plans to remake the real world in its own image…
Google’s patent, granted on January 7, “Claiming Real Estate in Panoramic or 3D Mapping Environments for Advertising” reveals a plan to identify posters, billboards and other advertising space in Google Streetview. It then propose to replace those ads with real-time adverts.
Google’s plan is to identify advertising material like posters and allow advertisers to keep that information up to date or replace it with new ads. That would mean ads within Streetview would remain current despite the fact that Streetview pictures remain the same.
The patent details an advertising auction process for unclaimed properties. That is likely to work well for Google commercially but could lead to a situation where rival companies buy up ad space near or even on property owned by a competitor.
Google has made it clear that the patent is not yet being put into action. Its spokesman told The Telegraph: “We file patent applications on a variety of ideas…some later mature into real products or services, some don’t. Prospective product announcements should not necessarily be inferred from our patent applications.”
Due TBA | £TBA | Google (via The Telegraph)
