Google will reportedly be calling it quits as far as its photo-sharing platform Panoramio is concerned. As a result, the company will be turning its attention to Google Maps by building the features of the former into the latter.
On November 4, the common source for Google Maps images will be shut down. In case you didn’t know, Panoramio is a location-based platform that lets users explore the entire globe in photos. This feature will now be discontinued thanks to the photo upload tool that already lives in Google Maps. Apparently, there are about 100 million people who use the photo-sharing platform despite the fact that Google had made it public a few years ago that it will be shutting down the service.
According to the Panoramio’s statement, the main reason why the service was not discontinued back then was to allow the search engine giant to build its photo-sharing capabilities into Google Maps. However, this did not just stop there as the statement further notes that the latest version of the mapping service will have enhanced support for better engagement, similar to what Panoramio has been offering.
With the new photo upload tool as well as Local Guide program that live inside Google Maps, users will be able to share their photos with other people in the community, including tagging along locations. This move will leave the Panoramio platform in “read-only” mode for a period of one year. You can access your earlier images, but the upload tool will not be working anymore. Google also recommends that you link your Panoramio account to your Google account profile so that all photos can be migrated to the Google Album Archive.
With the possibility of getting an additional 100 million users, Google Maps will now be moving towards the billion user mark. However, the mapping app is also helped by the fact that it comes preloaded on almost all Android devices, but this doesn’t mean all people use it actively. Still, making Google Maps more of a social networking platform might play a huge role in increasing the user base of the mapping service.