Flickr’s New Map Views

Last week, Google announced the introduction of local videos to Google Earth. Pretty cool, but Google Earth has to be downloaded first. Not so cool.

Today we learn that Yahoo’s Flickr will soon add a new area of the site called “Places Page” and update their geotagging display.

The geotagging will get tags overlayed on the world map. You’ll be able to pick a tag in San Francisco, and view all the photos with that label.

Here’s how it looks.

Flickr’s new Places Page is even more interesting. Basically, you can view a location, then pick a popular tag. You’ll then see a page with matching photos and other local information such as weather and and Flickr groups.

TechCrunch explains…

Pages are built around the Flickr concept of ?interestingness,? but based on places and tags. So China/bicycle shows popular photos of bicycles taken in China. Paris/architecture is another example. Any of 70,000 places can be viewed, optionally followed by any tag. Flickr is also adding in additional information on the place, such as weather and local time, as well as relevant Flickr groups.

The product will get better over time, too. Eventually users will be able to adjust pages by time or season, so pictures from New York in the Fall can be viewed, for example. Or pictures from a specific event that happened in a city.

Here’s an example of a Place Page:

These announcements are much more user-friendly than Google Earth’s videos. Sure, video’s can give you a greater sensory experience, but it’s a serious downside to only have the option inside a downloaded piece of software. With Flickr, you’ll be able pull up photos from any computer, subscribe to an RSS feed to get any new photos, and quickly share your snaps with others.

CNET has more.