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A few weeks ago, we launched two layers on maps.google.com, accessible via the “More..” button. The photos layer displays Panoramio photos, continuously loading in more photos as you zoom in, and letting you click the photos to see the info window with more information. Behind the scenes, the implementation is basically a GTileLayerOverlay plus array of pixel bounds specifying the clickable areas. It’s a clever technique that can be used whenever you have vast amounts of potentially clickable data, and a server that can render out tiles. However, I’m here today to show you how to create a similar effect using MarkerManager plus Panoramio’s API.

The Panoramio API lets you specify a bounding box query, sort by popularity, and output its data in JSON format. The MarkerManager lets you specify marker batches per zoom level ranges, and only displays the markers for the current viewport. Using these features, we can then do the following:

1. Create an empty MarkerManager.
2. Create an empty hash table to store photo ids.
3. Assign a listener to the map “moveend” event. This function calls the Panoramio API, sends in the current bounding box, and asks for the 10 most popular photos. The query looks like this:

   http://www.panoramio.com/map/get_panoramas.php?order=popularity&set=public&from=0&to=10&minx=-124.29382324218749&miny=36.089060460282006&maxx=-119.8773193359375&maxy=38.724090458956965&callback=MyCallback

4. When the query responds, iterate through the results, and for each result whose ID isn’t already in the hash table, add it to the MarkerManager for the current zoom level, and add it to the hash table.

The effect to the user is that additional photos stream in and populate the map as they zoom in - check it out below or here. You can use this technique whenever you have a database that can be queried by bounding box and rank the results.

But if you want to just put a Panoramio button on your site, you can copy the code & scripts from this example. If you’re a Panoramio user yourself, you can actually restrict the layer to only your photos by passing in your user ID to the API call. Developer Ade is experimenting with this on his ibizaA-Z site in order to just display his Ibiza photos.

Link to PanoramioLayer example

Posted by Pamela Fox, Maps API Team

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Ritee Rouf, Product Marketing Manager

When we received an invitation to attend a friend’s wedding in Hawaii, my husband and I couldn’t think of a better way to spend our summer vacation. I started my research and quickly realized what a hassle it can be to make travel plans. When you’re traveling with kids, spontaneity is not really on the top of your list; you want to plan as much as possible ahead of time. So I started searching on Google Maps, found a hotel close to the beach, and even had the chance to scope out some family-friendly restaurants. I also discovered some interesting travel My Maps that others had created to share stories, photos, and videos from their own trips.

To make travel planning easier for everyone, we have put together some simple travel tips for you at http://maps.google.com/tripplanning including a “how to” video tutorial.

And if you’re still trying to find that perfect vacation spot, you can explore photos, videos, and popular searches about a particular place on Google Maps, or turn on the Panoramio photo layer to see what destination catches your eye. Bon voyage!

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Henrik Stewenius, Software Engineer, Google Zurich

Have you ever looked at a photo and wondered what was beyond its edges - just what was left of that castle or what the facade of Notre Dame looks like from close up? We certainly have, which is why I’m happy to tell you about a new feature we’ve just introduced for Panoramio, Google’s site for sharing geo-tagged photos.

Panoramio enables photographers to geo-locate, store and organize their photographs and to view those images in their geographic context. You may already have seen photos from the Panoramio layer while zooming around in Google Earth or Google Maps (just click the “more” button), but have you visited the Panoramio website? Now, when browsing photos on the site you can explore multiple images of a particular location in a more seamless way.

For select photos on www.panoramio.com, you’ll find a new link below the photo:

When you click it, a pop-up will appear that looks like this:

When you mouse over an image, you’ll see polygonal frames appear. Each of these frames represents a photo of the same location taken from a different angle or perspective. Just click on the frame to view that photo, and continue exploring. You can also click the thumbnails on the right-hand panel.

Follow the “Look around” link from this photo of Notre Dame in Paris or St Basil’s Cathedral in Moscow to see them from all different angles. Take a look at these beautiful photos of the Astrological Clock in Prague.

We’re experimenting with this new feature, so you won’t find the “look around” link for all of the over 5 million photos shared in Panoramio. For now you’ll find it primarily on photos of popular tourist attractions, but, as with our other tools and services, we plan to keep tinkering with it, so keep an eye out for new developments.

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