What is a 360\u00b0 Google Maps virtual tour?

A 360\u00b0 Google Maps virtual tour is an immersive walkthrough of your business \u2014 captured as a series of 360\u00b0 photos and published directly to your Google Business Profile, Google Maps and Street View. Visitors navigate from room to room in their browser, exactly as if they were there.

How long does a 360\u00b0 virtual tour shoot take?

A typical small business shoot (caf\u00e9, retail unit, gym studio) takes 2\u20134 hours on site. Larger venues such as hotels, car showrooms or universities take a half or full day. We deliver the live, hosted tour within 5\u201310 working days of capture.

How much does a 360\u00b0 virtual tour cost in the UK?

Pricing starts from around \u00a3300 for a small retail outlet, and scales based on the number of 360\u00b0 points captured, travel to your UK location, and whether you need Google Street View publishing, custom-hosted tour, or both. We shoot all shapes and sizes of business and offer a free quote on every project.

Do virtual tours improve Google Business Profile rankings?

Google Business Profiles with a published 360\u00b0 virtual tour typically receive significantly more customer interest than profiles without one \u2014 per Google's own internal data. Tours increase dwell time on your listing, signal to Google that the business is verified and active, and appear directly on Google Maps and Search.

Where in the UK does Trusted Photography work?

We cover the whole of the United Kingdom \u2014 all 51 English counties, plus Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Our HQ is in Long Eaton, Derbyshire, and our team travels UK-wide for shoots.

What types of business is a virtual tour good for?

360\u00b0 virtual tours work especially well for hotels and resorts, car dealerships, restaurants and caf\u00e9s, retail stores and showrooms, gyms and fitness centres, pubs and bars, property and estate agents, and universities and schools. Any business where customers benefit from seeing the space before they visit.

What's the difference between Google Street View and Matterport?

Google Street View tours are published directly to your Google Business Profile and Google Maps and are free to host. Matterport tours are hosted on Matterport's platform with a small ongoing subscription, but offer 3D walkthrough and floor-plan features. We offer both and can advise which suits your business.

Do you still publish to Google Maps now the Trusted Photographer programme has ended?

Yes. Google retired its formal Trusted Photographer programme, but the underlying ability to publish 360\u00b0 tours to Google Maps and Street View remains fully available via Google's Street View Studio. Trusted Photography has been publishing tours to Google Maps since 2012 and continues to do so today.

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Matterport vs Google Street View Virtual Tours: Which is Right for Your UK Business?

If you’re a UK business looking to commission a 360° virtual tour, you’ll quickly hit the same question every other owner asks: Matterport, or Google Street View? Both are immersive. Both let visitors explore your space remotely. But they’re built for different jobs, and choosing the wrong one wastes budget. Here’s a plain-English comparison from a UK 360° virtual tour agency that’s been publishing to Google Maps since 2012.

What is a Google Street View virtual tour?

A Google Street View virtual tour is a series of connected 360° photographs published directly to your Google Business Profile and Google Maps. Visitors can move between viewpoints with arrow clicks, just like Street View on the road, but inside your premises.

Hosted by Google — no ongoing fees, no expiry
Appears on Google Maps and Search — discovery built in
Embeddable on your website via the standard iframe
Mobile and desktop friendly with no app install

What is a Matterport virtual tour?

Matterport is a third-party 3D-capture platform. Instead of standalone 360° photos, Matterport scans your space and stitches it into a navigable 3D model, complete with a “dollhouse” floor-plan view. The tour lives on Matterport’s hosting, not Google Maps.

3D walkthrough + floor plan — more spatial information
Measurement tools — useful for property, AEC, surveying
Hosted on Matterport’s cloud with an ongoing subscription
Branded embeds and custom tags for richer interactivity

Matterport vs Google Street View: side-by-side

Feature	Google Street View	Matterport
Hosting	Free, hosted by Google forever	Matterport subscription (ongoing fee)
Shows on Google Maps	Yes — discovery built in	No — separate destination
3D model / floor plan	No	Yes
Measurement tools	No	Yes
Local SEO impact	High — boosts Google Business Profile	Low — relies on website embed only
Customisation	Limited (Google’s UI)	High — branded tags, hotspots
Best for	Local businesses, retail, hospitality, restaurants — anywhere customers find you on Google	Property, AEC, large complex venues, training

Which one is right for your UK business?

Pick Google Street View if your customers find you mostly through Google search and Google Maps — so cafés, restaurants, hotels, car dealerships, gyms, retail stores, pubs, showrooms. Tour visibility happens automatically and there are no ongoing hosting fees.

Pick Matterport if you need a 3D model with measurement tools — so estate agents, architects, AEC consultants, large training facilities, or venues where customers expect to explore floor by floor. You’ll trade off the local-SEO boost for richer interactivity.

Can you have both?

Yes, and many UK businesses do. Hotels, car dealerships and large showrooms often publish a Street View tour to Google Maps for discovery, then offer a richer Matterport experience embedded on their own website. The two systems complement each other — Street View brings the traffic, Matterport keeps them engaged on-site.

How Trusted Photography helps

We’ve been publishing 360° tours to Google Maps and Street View since 2012, and we capture Matterport tours alongside for clients who need both. As one of the UK’s longest-established virtual tour agencies, we work UK-wide — every county, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland — and have delivered tours for LEGO, BMW, Currys, Hamleys, Halfords, Wren Kitchens and the Universities of Nottingham and Salford.

Frequently asked questions

Is Google Street View free?

Capture and publishing by a photographer carries a one-off fee. After that, Google hosts your tour for free indefinitely on Google Maps and your Google Business Profile.

Does Matterport have a free tier?

Matterport offers a free starter plan with limited spaces. For a commercial tour on a custom domain or with branding, you’ll need a paid plan. Trusted Photography includes the capture and can advise on the right Matterport subscription.

Do I own the tour content?

Yes. You own the imagery. Trusted Photography hands over capture rights as part of every commission.

Ready to get started? Get a free quote and we’ll talk you through which tour type fits your business best.