Chamber partners with Google Street View Indoors

PANAMA CITY — A new online tool is giving consumers a 360-degree view inside businesses, no matter where they are.

Through a partnership with Google Street View Indoors, the Bay County Chamber of Commerce is encouraging members of the local business community to give it a shot.

“It’s just like Google Street View, but it brings users inside a business,” said Brittany Cole, chamber vice president of communications. “We’re encouraging members to sign up for it and to use it as a tool for their business to get more people in the door.”

Cole said the tool can be especially useful to showcase event venues and restaurants, but can benefit any business trying to drive customers through its doors. 

“It gets people in the door, which is what we want,” she said. “We want to give them a way to better reach out to the community.”

The technology uses images captured by Google-certified photographers to provide a “virtual tour” via Google Maps. It is smartphone and tablet-friendly and can easily be placed on a business’s website or social media pages.

The annual price for participation starts at $300 and increases based on the number of “viewpoints” desired.

The starting price includes three viewpoints, the next 12 viewpoints are $50 each and viewpoints 16 and up are $30 each.  A scholarship program is available for small businesses that can’t afford the fee, Cole said.

The partnership gives the chamber a percentage of the fee for each member that signs up through the organization’s recommendation.

Though the partnership just launched, Cole said the chamber has already received positive feedback from the local business community about the growing technology.

“Chambers across the U.S. are joining in this program,” Cole said. “We’ve had a good response so far.”  

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