Yes.
the following site has example tours from several sites around the world. Please visit
http://exampletours.com/
You can contact us if you have any further questions. Google also has an FAQ available here and a general overview of the program here.
Ideally we suggest scheduling your shoot either before or after regular business hours to ensure we don’t photograph clients and/or staff in the tours. We realize that this is not always possible. If this is not the case we would like to try and schedule your business shoot for a time when you may have a slow period during the day.
If neither of the above is possible the technology behind Google Business Photos does allow us to blur out recognizable features of people in the establishment and of items that may be captured and are of a private nature. If you see something that should be blurred out after publication you can contact Google to have the item blurred or even have the tour taken down completely.
We do go out of our way to ensure that if customers are in the business we attempt to not capture them and that they are aware that a shoot is going on. We also posts signs on the door of the business advising that a shoot is in progress.
Yes. Once your tour is published to your Local+ page and you have access to it via a gmail account, you can add additional photos to the page.
No. The 360° virtual tour and the POI photos are all hosted on Google’s servers at no cost to you.
Yes, the virtual tour does work on most mobile devices with the Google Maps and Street View apps installed. We have tested this on IOS (Apple) and several Android devices and have been able to view the tour. On an older Windows Phone 7 device updated to the latest OS, a Local+ page can be brought up by visiting Google Maps in the browser but the Virtual tours and photos don’t appear. We have not had the opportunity to test it on a newer Windows 8 Phone or any Blackberry device yet and as soon as we know the results we will advise here.
Yes, after payment has been made you own the photos and are free to use them any way you wish for your business.
Yes, the virtual tour can be embedded in your website. The tour can also be put on a tab on your business’ Facebook Page.
From the Google Business Photos Website FAQ
Yes, we encourage you to share the walk-through experience of your business with your customers. To embed the 360-degree panoramas on your website, simply find the HTML snippet from a good point of view of the panoramic imagery on Google Maps, click on the “Link” button , click “customize and preview embedded map,” and then copy and paste the HTML to embed in your website. If you’re looking for even more customizability with your images, check out the Google Maps API.
If a business deals with clients directly and is something that existing and prospective clients would search for then it would be a likely candidate to have a tour done. There are some current restrictions imposed by Google, however, which are that no Legal or Government Offices can be done at this time. In addition, businesses that violate the terms of service for the Google Business Photos (Nudity, drugs and drug paraphernalia, etc) are ineligible.
This is an ideal opportunity for restaurants, coffee shops, retail stores, car dealerships, Spa’s, Hair Salons and any independent small business owner to showcase their businesses.
We make every attempt to create and upload the panorama photos as soon as possible. While there may be some delays, typically the photos and tour are live within 7 days of the shoot. We can keep the business owner up to date through every step of the process if required. However the final imagery will not be able to be seen until the tour goes live.