14 Awesome Google Business Photos Examples
Not us by the way – we don’t do photography!
We think Google Business Photos started around April this year (but we could be wrong!) and we have been hunting around the internet for AWESOME EXAMPLES of the technology being used.
Our criteria to make the awesome list was:
- Thinking differently to how “standard” Google Business Photos would normally be used.
- Using the standard technology but having a business that REALLY benefits from the 360 degree photos.
- A surprise element to the Google Walkthrough.
For those new to Google Business Photos, it is essentially taking the technology behind Google Street View and bringing it into your business, whereby you can choose how much you want to show to the outside world about your business.
*note to the photographers that took these – we are happy to credit these back to you and provide a link to your website – please get in touch.
1. Duckworth Land Rover, Market Rasen, Lincolnshire, United Kingdom.
We start off with a great example of how a simple idea can really capture the actual “products” for sale.
Most people know what a Land Rover looks like from the outside, and when driving past or visiting a showroom we will often “browse” without ever getting a feel for what the cars are like on the inside. This great example of how the Google Photo technology can work allows the user to go inside FIVE of the cars in the showroom and have a good look around inside.
A brilliant example by photographer Darren Juggins.
2. Oxford Playhouse, Beaumont Street, Oxford, United Kingdom.
Want to know what the stage will look like from different rows at the Oxford Playhouse? Then their Google Business Photos will allow you to walk around the venue and have a look from different sections of the upper gallery and the lower gallery.
The 360 degree tour also allows you to see the box office & the upper gallery bar.
3. Clean Freak Car Wash, Phoenix, Arizona, United States
An amazing example of how to show people exactly what you get when you use this car wash.
We love the fact that we almost travel through the whole thing, passing through Rinse, Clear Coat, Turtle Wax, Spot Free and the Tyre Shiner, as if we were the Ford Pickup currently going through.
When we looked at the website of clean freak car wash, we also liked the idea of a monthly contract that was being offered, something we don’t think (although we could be wrong) is currently offered in the United Kingdom.
The car wash comes from the portfolio of Mark Spomer Photography.
4. Lincoln Catherdral, Priorygate, Lincoln, United Kingdom.
Probably the most stunning example of the Google Business Photos used so far (that we could find) – and the second in our list by Darren Juggins.
Lincoln Cathedral is a stunning piece of architecture, and the 360 degree tour allows any visitor from any part of the world to walk through one of the famous cathedrals that England has to offer. We also love the fact that you can zoom on on parts of the cathedral (such as the stained glass windows) to look at them in more detail.
5. Topsail Events & Charters, Brighton & London, United Kingdom
Although a much shorter tour than many that have made this list, we loved the idea of being able to walk around the top of the boat.
Simple idea, offering something different to many others, and hopefully something that gets them noticed by people looking for corporate event entertainment in London & Brighton.
6. Curo Gallery, Middlewood Road, Sheffield, United Kingdom.
This is one of a number of examples of businesses who really benefit from allowing people online to browse through their shop. From the outside you would never guess what diverse pictures the Curo Gallery has to offer, but going through a 360 degree tour really helps to promote their pictures.
Another thing we also LOVE about this tour is the ability to really zoom in on the pictures and look at them in much more detail. Probably more so than you would be able to do in the shop without lifting them off the wall!
7. The Joiners, Church Walk, Bruntingthorpe, Leicestershire, United Kingdom.
If you are shy (like us!) then having the ability to see inside a venue before you walk through the door can be a real advantage.
We could have picked a few of these type of Google Business Photo examples, however what we really liked about this one was the surprise of being able to read the specials board, the special offers and their encouragement to look at their website or follow them on Facebook (see if you can spot all these in the tour!).
- “Tempura Prawns, Sweet Chilli Sauce – £6.95”
- “Pigeon & Smoked Bacon Salad – £6.25”
Hemswell Antiques has the largest selection of Antique Dealers in Europe all in one place.
What we love about the Google Business Photos tour is the ability to look around some of the selection of Antiques that they have for sale. Similar to the Curo Gallery example, we are able to really focus in on specific items.
We also like the fact that they have included their bistro as part of the tour, which is a great example of showing people who have never been other areas of interest in the venue that they might not have known about.
9. Chelsea Car International, Armoury Way, Wandsworth, London, United Kingdom.
Chelsea Cars International supply classic cars, and they have a showroom and outdoor section chock full of classic Mercedes Benz, Porsche, Jaguar, Rolls Royce & Ferrari. So what better way to showcase their stock than to allow a 360 degree tour both inside and outside of their business premises.
We also love the fact that they allow you to go inside one of the cars outside the door – we just wish we had been able to do this in a lot more of their stock (as we will never get to see the inside of a Ferrari!).
10. Woodlawn Garden & Lifestyle, Ballynahinch Rd, Carryduff, Down, United Kingdom.
This garden centre taken by photographer John M Lynch, is a great example of the ability the Google Business Photos gives a business owner to showcase both inside and outside their shop. This is especially useful for a garden centre who have an array of products, plants and accessories for sale.
We just love the amount of choice we have to navigate around this garden centre.
11. Lincoln City Football Club, Sincil Bank, Lincoln, United Kingdom.
A relatively small 360 degree tour, however the pay off is the view looking out towards the football pitch and stadium.
It’s a shame the photographer (Darren Juggins again) was unable to walk out on to the pitch and head towards the centre circle. We think that would have been awesome as you would then get a footballer’s eye view of what it looks like to play in a stadium.
We also think some of the bigger football clubs would massively benefit from having a much more detailed tour – we have been to Derby County’s Pride Park as well as Elland Road, and the memorabilia on the wall as you walk through is superb if you are a football fan.
12. Chessington Golf Club, Garrison Lane, Chessington, Surrey, United Kingdom.
A stunning opening scene to the 360 degree tour of the facilities on offer at the Chessington Golf Club.
If you were looking to hold your wedding here then this would be a fabulous way to get a real feel for the place when it is set up for a wedding BEFORE you even needed to visit the venue. We love the fact you can also head outside, although we think there is a missed opportunity to have a walk down the first hole!
Maybe that could be the next idea, a Google Business Photos tour of 18 holes on a golf course – THAT would be awesome!
13. Hayes Music Limited, Rumbridge Street, Totton, Southampton, United Kingdom.
This made our list because we think it is an example of how a shop can really benefit from using Google Business Photos, especially when their products are SO stunning.
Having a look around the trombone section or the saxophone section and really zooming in on the detail of each instrument is very, very good. We also love the fact that we can actually browse through some of the music books that are available to buy.
14. Heron Island, Australia
OK – we admit we cheated a little bit with the last one.
The Heron Island Google walk-through is actually just the standard Street View that has been taken to a different level by allowing us to actually dive below the surface and look around.
We have seen other examples of Google expanding their street view programme by getting their photographers to hike up mountains, or take boat rides down the amazon.
When you think about the possibilities, the Google Street Map project will be able to take any of us, anywhere in the world. We will be able to visit far off lands which we would have never been able to experience and actually get a real, close up view of the these areas.
As for the Google Business Photos, we did come across a few museums which were pretty good including the Henley Rowing Museum, however for some reason the photo tour wasn’t working probably when we looked.
We also think that there could be some better one’s out there, and ask everyone to leave comments below of any tours they have come across that they think deserve to be in this list.
As for the possibilities, we think they are endless. We would love to see:
- A full football stadium tour including going out onto the pitch
- A full baseball stadium tour including a trip out onto the pitch
- A tour of an aquarium or sea world centre, with an underwater section similar to the Heron Island example above.
- A tour around a theme park (and possibly tours around some of the rides).
- A walk through of a full eighteen hole golf course.