Google Airlines! Now Departing From Your Terminal - How it Works
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With Google's Network of Search Partners and their close to 90% market share of world wide searches, the acquisition of this new technology allows Google to slam local search into their users' faces by simply typing in an address and allowing them to virtually fly to the location. Users can measure distance, tilt the view, print the picture and e-mail it.
Using this technology, users will be able to locate hotels, tourist destinations, restaurants, movie theathers, local retail merchants, and shopping malls. They'll even be able to locate sports stadiums and examine an overlay of the seating areas available. As a colleague noted, "no more waiting in line for pizza."
Imagine living in Philadelphia, PA and being able to shop for a new home in Malibu, CA or perhaps the French Riviera or Sydney Australia -- with this new feature you can tour the world without moving an inch from your comfy couch. Are you an avid ski bum looking for trail conditions early in the season? Bring up a search for Vail, Colorado, fly in your virtual helicopter over the slopes, and instantly you know whether to head out or wait.
There is currently a $29.99 a month subscription for the Keyhole service. That price reflects Google's announcement that the price would be cut from the pre-acquisition price of $69.99 a month. That is just one side of the profit equation. What remains to be seen is how Google will monetize the services deeper inside Keyhole where businesses will be most interested in advertising themselves.
While checking out Keyhole for this article, I zoomed in on the Boston, MA demo that was available. One thing I noticed was an overlay of the street map, which showed all the Dunkin' Donuts stores in the city.
This is an even greater way for Google to generate ad revenue. If a user searches for a coffee shop in Cambridge, MA, Starbucks, Dunkin Donuts, Harvest Coop, Bread and Circus, and Cezanne Cafe and Bakery and other merchants can all bid to have their overlay shown first. Additionally bookstores with a coffee shop and convenience stores that have coffee could also bid for placement.
Additional features that can be envisioned include a map to the coffee shop, using real images and printable to PC, laptop, PDA, and cell phone. Once the map is printed out, in the right hand column could be a coupon to the coffee shop for a return visit, perhaps as well as offers from merchants in the immediate area. This too could be monetized by Google to generate even more revenue, thereby increasing shareholder value.
The widespread capabilities of the Keyhole Technology will certainly allow Google to earn additional revenue. There are currently two consumer versions, a professional version and an enterprise solution. The enterprise solution consists of three elements, Keyhole 2 Fusion, software that marries Keyhole streaming servers to your imagery, GIS, terrain or RDBMS databases. The second part, Keyhole2 server, delivers a 3D world to hundreds of users from one server, while and Keyhole Enterprise Client puts a 3D world on your computer which can be accessed at video game speed, delivering on demand content.
Another feature is the ability to put Keyhole Imagery on your website and allow your website visitors to view any scene. Along with overlays of roads, highways, and businesses, you can add customizable overlays of data important to you or your viewers to view comprehensive data about your business.
Planning a trip to Kuala Lumpur? Surf over to your travel agent's website and then take a bird's eye view to your destination.
The many industries where this feature can be utilized include commercial and residential real estate, architecture and engineering, insurance, media, defense intelligence, homeland security, federal, state, and local government. The possibilities are endless in both the good and the bad that can be utilized with Keyhole, and herein may lay Google's largest challenge to date.
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