Google has today officially launched Google Business Photos program as part of its Google Maps services, to businesses in India. The program was launched in India last year as a pilot program and allowed businesses to offer interactive, 360 degree interior imagery of their showrooms, restaurants and real estate among others on Google Maps. Google said that this program has been launched in eight Indian cities beginning with Hyderabad and it plans to expand the program to 20 cities across the country this year. The program is currently live in more than eight countries globally including United States, Australia, New Zealand, France, Ireland, Netherlands, Canada, and the United Kingdom among others. Speaking to Medianama, Gautam Gandhi, Google India said that the program has been launched for two reasons. Firstly, it is an attempt to bring offline businesses without an online presence to the online space. Secondly, they hope to enable consumers' buying decision. Enrolling for the Program: When we checked, we noticed that businesses can choose any one of Google-certified Trusted Photographer/ Trusted Agency, discuss the pricing for the shoot and schedule a photo shoot. After the shoot, the images will be uploaded to the Google Maps and Google+ Local listing of the business along with Google search results for that business. However, its worth noting that businesses will not be able to review the photos before upload. Some of the businesses that use Google Business Photos include Satya Paul, Hyderabad, Maayin Hyderabad, Hard Rock Cafe, Pune, The Palace, a shop in Chennai etc. Photographers: Interestingly, Google…
