Google Plans to Upgrade Old Billboards in Street View

A new patent recently granted to Google will allow the sale of billboards on Google Maps in an auction style reward the highest bidder format. As this new form of advertising becomes more widely used, look for Starbucks to usurp your local coffee shop's awning to advertise for it's nationwide chain.

VIA Read Write Web

According to a new patent that was just granted to Google, the company could soon extend the reach of its advertising program in Google Maps to Street View. This patent, which was originally filed on July 7, 2008, describes a new system for promoting ads in online mapping applications. In this patent, Google describes how it plans to identify buildings, posters, signs and billboards in these images and give advertisers the ability to replace these images with more up-to-date ads. In addition, Google also seems to plan an advertising auction for unclaimed properties. [More]