Part of our Google Street View cluster — for the full hub on Google Street View virtual tours UK, see Google Street View virtual tours UK.
Google has retired its formal Trusted Photographer programme. If you ran one of the old ‘find a Trusted Photographer’ searches and noticed it doesn’t work like it used to, that’s why. This page explains what the programme was, why Google closed it, and — most importantly for UK businesses — how 360° virtual tours still get published to Google Maps and Street View today.
Want your business on Google Maps today?
Get a free quote for a 360° virtual tour — captured on site and published to your Google Business Profile, Google Maps and Street View. UK-wide. From £300. Same team, since 2012.
What was the Google Trusted Photographer programme?
Google ran a certification scheme for 360° photographers from the early 2010s through to its retirement. Photographers who passed Google’s review process were listed as “Trusted” or “Google Street View Trusted” and could publish 360° interior tours directly to Google Maps.
Why did Google shut it down?
An increasingly self-service approach to publishing to Maps (anyone with the right tools can now upload via Street View Studio), Google consolidating its various map-imagery programmes, and the rise of competing immersive-tour platforms (Matterport in particular) reducing the strategic value of an exclusive certification network.
What replaced it?
The publishing pipeline still works — it just isn’t gated behind a “Trusted” badge any more. Today, any 360° photography agency with the right equipment and a verified Google Business Profile for the venue can publish 360° tours to Google Maps via Google’s Street View Studio.
Where does Trusted Photography fit in?
Trusted Photography is a UK 360° virtual tour brand of Local Exposure Ltd. We’ve been publishing 360° tours to Google Maps and Street View since 2012 — through the original programme era, through its closure, and we continue to publish UK 360° tours to Google Maps and Street View today via Street View Studio. Our clients include LEGO, BMW, Currys, Hamleys, the Post Office and the Universities of Nottingham and Salford.
Want your business on Google Maps today?
Get a free quote for a 360° virtual tour — captured on site and published to your Google Business Profile, Google Maps and Street View. UK-wide. From £300. Same team, since 2012.
For new enquiries ask for Richard Sharp, our Director and named contact for new business at Trusted Photography.
More about Trusted Photographer programme
Trusted Photographer programme from Trusted Photography means professional UK work backed by 21+ years of photography heritage and 12+ years publishing 360° tours to Google Maps and Google Street View. Our team is based in Long Eaton, Derbyshire. Clients include LEGO, BMW, Currys, Hamleys, Wren Kitchens, Marco Pierre White, the Post Office and the Universities of Nottingham and Salford.
To request a free quote or for more on Trusted Photographer programme, get in touch with our team. We confirm the brief and quote within one working day, and every project is fixed-fee with no hidden travel costs — including all of our work on Trusted Photographer programme.