GeoBeats is an interactive media company whose mission is to inform travelers about international destinations through the use of video. The site is currently in beta, but already has a nice sized collection of well-done videos with local people describing their favorite location. They have created a Google Earth collection of placemarks showing the locations of their videos (also viewable with Google Maps) with a link back to the video you can watch. GeoBeats has a hip Web 2.0 social networking feel which encourages comments and suggestions for new content. The travel video approach is very similar to the Turn Here travel videos which have their own sub-layer under the Travel and Tourism layer in Google Earth. However, the two sites are pretty complementary since Turn Here is mostly in the US and GeoBeats videos are currently mostly in Europe. Both of these sites will really benefit in Google Earth when Google (not “if” – are you listening Google?) implements the ability to show embedded video content in placemark descriptions.
Here is a sample video from GeoBeats:
About Frank Taylor
Frank Taylor started the Google Earth Blog in July, 2005 shortly after Google Earth was first released. He has worked with 3D computer graphics and VR for many years and was very impressed with this exciting product. Frank completed a 5.5 year circumnavigation of the earth by sailboat in June 2015 which you can read about at Tahina Expedition, and is a licensed pilot, backpacker, diver, and photographer.
Nice video.videos will play great role in social networking