Google Maps wants to include more of your photos
Remember Views, Google's repository for geotagged Photo Spheres and panoramas? Honestly, many of us around the Engadget compound had forgotten about it too. Mountain View has decided that rather than hide away these features on some separate site that nobody ever visits, it'll be folding the service directly into Google Maps. This means you'll see your new Maps profile in the pop out menu on the left, along with all your contributions. Eventually Google will reveal the total number of images you've uploaded, the number of times they've been viewed and expand your options for sharing content on Maps.
If you're not big on sharing Photo Spheres you still benefit from this move. The tighter integration means that images from other users will pop up more frequently. And, even if an area is already covered by Street View, there's a good chance that the user contributed pics are more recent and of higher quality. That's a boon for you, but it also makes Google's life easier since it can now surface a whole bunch of 360-degree images for places that it hasn't yet invaded with its cameras. Think of it almost like a crowdsourced Street View.
