Google buys photo sharing site Panoramio

Will continue to use in Google Earth

31 May 2007 1:02 GMT / By Stuart Miles

Google has continued its spending spree this week with the announcement that it has bought picture website Panoramio, a website that links millions of photos with the exact geographical location where they were taken.

The search engine, who is quickly buying anyone and everyone they express an interest in, has said that the community photo website, will be used within its Google Earth package.

According to the two company's, the acquisition of Panoramio will incorporate the website, its underlying technology, its content, developers, and user community into the Google Geo product mix.

Google said in a statement on its website that "Panoramio will add interesting, useful content to Google products and will bolster Google's engineering and technical resources".

Taken by Panoramio's striking images documenting settings from all over the world, like moonscapes in Croatia, dramatic sunsets in Australia, and innovative architecture in the United Arab Emirates, Google says it has been working with the Spain-based company for some time.

Users can search and browse Panoramio photos and suggest edits to the metadata associated with the photos. Panoramio also offers an API that enables web developers to embed Panoramio functionality into their websites, and the company has offered a default layer with Google Earth since the beginning of the year.