From Kittery to Presque Isle, innovative street level imagery of Maine to provide new tourism, education, real estate and business benefits

Today Google Maps has expanded the coverage of its popular Street View feature to include imagery from across Maine. Street View is a free feature of Google Maps that lets internet users view and navigate 360-degree street-level imagery of cities, towns, and regions across the United States and internationally. Street View is integrated with driving directions on Google Maps to make it easier to see the view of the streets that accompany directions.

Using Street View, people can check if a restaurant has parking out front, make travel plans, arrange meeting points, save time at open houses on Saturday morning, and explore both well-known and more isolated parts of the state. Street View also now puts Maine's most historic and iconic landmarks and attractions on display, including Acadia National Park and the Nubble Lighthouse at Cape Neddick in York.

Stephen Chau, Product Manager at Google, commented: "We're thrilled to bring Street View to so much of Maine - places like Portland, Auburn, Lewiston, Bangor, Bar Harbor, the view from drives along the Atlantic coastline, Acadia National Park. Since launching Street View, we have heard great feedback about how Street View has helped its users in their lives and how it has enabled them to discover many remarkable new places. Now residents and visitors alike can explore all Maine has to offer."

"Google Maps has been very popular and is used by organizations, businesses, and individuals far and wide as an essential and informative tool every day of the week. Street View provides an added experience by enabling users to see street-level panoramas of Maine's public roads."

STREET VIEW OVERVIEW

To view Street View imagery, visit Google Maps at http://maps.google.com and drag the orange "pegman" icon (located at the top left, above the "zoom slider") over the map. Blue outlines will indicate where the street-level vantage point is available. The option to view Street View imagery will also appear when you zoom in to the lowest level of Google Maps. By simply clicking the "Street View" link, it's easy to check out a restaurant, preview a hotel, arrange a meeting spot, or help your real estate search.

Street View first launched in May 2007, and now includes imagery from hundreds of cities and towns across the United States, as well as a dozen national parks. Street View imagery is also available internationally for Australia, New Zealand, France, Italy, Spain, and Japan. Today's update, including Maine, doubles the amount of coverage in the United States.

Google has gone to great lengths to safeguard privacy while allowing Maine to benefit from this feature. Street View only contains imagery that is already visible from public roads, and blurs identifiable faces. Anyone can easily flag for removal images that they consider inappropriate by clicking on "Report a concern" at the bottom of the Street View image in question.