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October 16, 2007
Business Layers Have Reviews and Pictures in Google Earth
Apparently during the layers update last week there was also an update to the information provided for business layers. First open up the Places of Interest layer folder near the bottom of the layers list. If you turn on the layers such as Dining, Lodging, Travel and Tourism, or Shopping and Services you get a wealth of placemarks for many cities in many countries (Google continues to add more countries every few months). Now, when you click on the placemarks you get more than just a name, URL, and possibly an address and phone number. You also get reviews and photos. These features were available for a while now in Google Maps, and now they are available in Google Earth as well. You can also follow the link to write your own reviews. Great stuff!
These layers are a great resource in Google Earth. But, I suspect a lot of people don't realize they are available. I wish Google would improve the layers interface so more people would realize this fantastic resource of information is available. In Google Maps, you can't just turn on a "Dining" layer because the Maps interface can't show varying degrees of placemarks - or large numbers of them (at least not yet). But, with Google Earth you can zoom in and get increasing amounts of placemarks and see the full data available.
Posted by FrankTaylor at October 16, 2007 09:01 AM
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Posted by: Robert Perron at October 16, 2007 10:39 AM
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It would be nice to have the layers appear in a similar fashion as of the navigation tools in the upper right corner of GE. Interacing with a semi transparent diplay and expand/collapse toggle (SimCity style interface) would simplify acces while retaining the large viewing area.
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Robert.