IamA Google Streetview Driver, AMA!

How often do you rip ass in the google car?

AS MUCH AS I WANT.

How often does streetview updates it's images? The streetview of my house is roughly 2 years old now.

I honestly couldn't tell you that, it all depends what the big brains over in california decide.

How many miles does your cat have? What's the average mileage for when they retire a car?

I'm not sure how many miles my cat has.... about 7 years worth? They retire a car I believe at about 150,000

How can we find out in advance where you will be driving, so we can get our hilarious costumes and poses ready?

There are two-ish ways to do this:

1. Know someone who got the job, and ask them to conspire with you

2. See a google car in your area, set something up and pray they go by you while you have it set up.

3ish. Wait every day until they actually happen to go by you.

How often do people get their tits out when they see you coming?

Not enough

1. How's the pay and benefits?
2. Do you have to flag things in any way if you notice that you drove past something they won't want going live? (Naked people, violent acts, etc)
3. Thanks for the info...always have wondered!

1. Pay is really not anything to brag about, 15 an hour. No benefits. Although if you have to pick up the car from another state or something, everything gets paid for, and you get paid for travel time which is kind of cool

2. I don't go through the pictures, so I don't get to flag anything like that

3. My pleasure =)

Can you describe how you became a Google driver, the requirements, how the process of determining when/where you drive is determined, and has anyone ever flashed you?

Well, I found a posting on Adecco looking for a "Cityblock driver" which I found out meant a Google street view driver. They are somewhat picky about who they pick. The biggest things they look for is no points on your license, followed by a drug screen, and a background check.

For me, they gave me the name of a town and just said "Get to it!". It's different for different drivers. The guy before me had a set area laid out on a map he had to cover.

No flashes yet, although the guy before me promised me at least 1 person would moon me by the time I'm done.

In college, I volunteered at the Western White House when President Bush was in office. He used to land AF1 just outside of town at a former SAC base that is now a technical college. Anyway, I wanted to be one of the drivers that drove the press or lower-level staff from the airport to the ranch. Unfortunately, I have a bad habit of driving like a bat out of hell so the Secret Service rejected my application to drive the vans. =(

That sucks. Will that stick with you forever on your record?

Are any google cars invisible? My mom and I at one point were on google maps, but I never saw the car!

Shhhhhhh. People can't know yet. It will spook the masses.

What was the funniest reaction you got while driving around?

Probably just when I stop somewhere, people are always shouting things like "OMG THATS A GOOGLE CAR!" or something similar at me.

Have you played GeoGessr? If so, have you come across something you did before?

I have not played it, what is it exactly?

Do you have to keep a certain speed when it's taking pictures? Drive not too fast and also not too slow? And also, when can you say "I'm almost done for today!" do you have to cover a certain area every day/week/month?

I usually go the speed limit. If i go too fast, the camera can't keep up and I'll have to slow down after a while.

Pretty much they want 8 hours in. So about after 7 hours, I can say that.

First, it like to thank you for your work. It's completely invaluable to mine (solving delivery problem for a distribution compagnie newspapers and flyers). Here are some questions :

1. What are the time limits? I'm asking because i sometime got picture late at night and you can't see anything with those.

2. On street that are accessible but still under construction, are you asked to stop or do you just turn around when it get too rough?

3. Have you ever been asked to do another pass at a place because the picture was bad or obstructed by a big truck?

1. That's a shame, we are told to only map between an hour after sunrise and an hour before sunset.

2. I haven't run in to much construction. As long as it isn't a dirt road, or some weird low bridge or something, I'm fine to pass through

3. No I haven't. They don't get reviewed immediately.

Is this a temporary/seasonal job, or something that could provide stable employment year-round?

Temporary

I put in a submission for a Google backpack about a month ago. How long is their backlog to get back to me?

bout tree-fiddy.

2 questions... What's the funniest or most bizarre thing you've personally seen while out taking pictures? What do you listen to while you're driving about?

I've seen a lot of elderly peoples faces with an expression that just looks like they want to ask me "What in tarnation is that doo-hickey?"

Black keys, Avett Brothers, Gorillaz, Coldplay, Fitz & the Tantrums. I need to get some more CD's because I go through them so fast.

I need to get some more CD's because I go through them so fast.

CDs and no mp3 player?

Believe me, I would if I could. The car doesn't have an aux port.

Get one of those FM radio transmitters for your phone, works like a charm.

Works on every cat they'll put you in (:

Ah, except the maps car. The equipment will actually interfere with the radio and it won't work.

What about radio?

The equipment interferes with the radio, so it doesn't work while I'm working.

1. How much training do you need, I would think they don't plop you in the car and say good luck
2. Is your route mapped out with Google maps? (or do you secretly use Garmin)

It's pretty basic, just telling us not to hit things, and how to report our work.

It does use google maps.

Does the weather affect your job? Or do you just drive around as much as you need to and Google people edit everything later?

I'm only supposed to drive in clear weather, cloudy is iffy, depends on how dark it is, and rainy or foggy is a no-no

Are you worried about job stability given Google's self-driving cars?

well, no. It's a temporary job, so I'm not doing this forever.

I've heard stories and seen pictures of people who knew the Google car was coming on a certain day and set up something silly to be immortalized by street view. How do these people find out the time and day that you'll be coming?

Probably they know the driver in some way? That's the only way I could think of.

Are you coming to AZ anytime soon? I would like to follow you around and make it seem like I'm everywhere on google

I will be actually! But not with the google car.....

First off: cool AMA

Q: How long before your days work gets added for us to see?

Q: Do you get followed driving around?

Wish you many safe miles!

A1: It takes a while. 6 months or more

A2: I did today actually. Some guy just decided to follow me around for a bit. I know because I drove through a rest stop area thing without stopping, and he did as well.

Do you need to stop everytime the car takes pictures, or can you just keep driving and is it fast enough to do it in one shot?

For how much could I borrow or buy the car from Google?

I can keep driving. I can even go highway speeds.

You'd have to talk to Google about buying one. You would probably also have to wait til they retire one.

How do you keep track of where you have driven and where you have not?

It keeps track of it on the GPS

Is this a temporary position?

Do you go home at night or are they putting you up in hotels if you are on the road?

I go home at the end of the day. When I left to get the car, they did put me up in hotels.

It is temporary.

Do you have to turn the camera on or does it automatically start taking pictures?

Have you ever forget to turn it on after driving around for hours?

It automatically takes pictures, and it would be difficult to forget to turn it on. It isn't just some casual thing, setting everything up is a specific process.

1. What kind of car is the camera attached to?
2. Does the camera/car require any kind of calibration/setup before driving.
3. Do you get any kind of real time feedback from the camera the pictures the it's taking are coming out ok or are jacked up?

1. Subaru Impreza
2. I have to fold up the camera, other than that it does everything itself.
3. Yeah, It'll show me pictures every so often to make sure there aren't bugs or anything on the camera.

Have any crazy/scary encounters to tell about?

I'm waiting for the situation with my neighbor to play out more. He has stated very bluntly that he does not like the google car taking pictures of his place, and it does everyday pretty much when I go to work because I go right by it.

I thought the cars were driverless. Was I being lied to?

Yes. And no. They have made driverless cars.... they just don't use them for streetview now.

What has been the most beautiful street you've been to?

That's a tough one, because I drive down so many they all kind of blend together.

Do you ever see people making stupid faces toward the camera? I've done it to a tom-tom car

Well I try to focus on the road so I don't murder anyone in a Google car, but I've seen people make gestures and what not.

How did you get your job ?

Post on Adecco.com, craigslist has also done it in the past.

Why did you take a picture of my butt? Can't post picture from my phone, but I have proof!

why did you stick your butt in our cameras?

How do you suggest I get the groceries out of the trunk?

Never turn your back to us! Cuz we gon find you

Did you see me waving at you!???

Sorry. I'll be sure to catch you next time!

Do you ever tell people beforehand where you will be mapping so that they can do something memorable for Google Earth?

I have not (yet)

Do you ever get bored?

What's the furthest from your home you've done street photos?

What's your favourite colour?

What's your favourite place to take a break?

1. I like looking at all the places I've never actually driven before, and will probably never drive again, so not terrible bored.

I don't travel on a normal basis, I am just commuting to a certain area, but I did have to go pick up the car in another state. Which was the worst.

Teal

Anywhere quiet, where someone won't be coming up to the car to start asking questions. Just somewhere I can take a little power nap.

Why was picking up a car from another state, "the worst?"

They horribly underestimated the time it would take to drive to my hotel. I drove about 11 hours that day.

Waaaaait wait wait. Google underestimated how long it would take you to drive there? THEY DIDN'T USE GOOGLE MAPS?!

I don't know what happened... because when I used google maps for navigation, it said it would take an hour longer than they told me.

Are there strict rules when it comes to your driving record? For example, if you were to get a parking ticket then would you be fired?

I'm responsible for all tickets, so I don't think that I would be fired, just a little poorer.

Hi, thanks for answering questions. I have a few:

• Is there an exact route you're told to take, that most efficiently covers all streets without having to drive the same streets twice?
• What are your break times? I'm presuming that you get more breaks than the average office worker.
• Do you cover only a certain area? If you're finished driving around the whole area, do you move to a different area or just start again?

1. No, I just kind of go at it.

2. Surprisingly, probably not. two 15 minutes, and a 30 minute lunch.

3. Once I'm done the area that I've been given, that's it for me.

Presuming an 8 hour work day, I'd see it as kind of dangerous to be driving that much with so few breaks.

Thankfully, it isn't a stressful area to drive in.

How do you know when you are done?

When I feel like I've covered a big enough area.

Do you get any perks from being a contractor with Google besides a unique position and the pay? Beta phone software? Automatic acceptance to Google Explorer program?

Not that they've shared with me.

Did you ever drive through a neighbourhood and decide you're going to have to do it again later because there were idiots running through the streets naked and flinging babies out the window or something just to gain attention?

I can't say I've seen many babies being expelled from windows, but not really. I think a lot of people around me think to themselves "wow, that's cool!" But I'm sure I'll run in to some idiots eventually. I would do it over again if it happened.

I saw a driver in my area 3 days in a row on my way home from college, is there a reason they might be doing the same route daily?

Yes. We are told to map to and from our areas, so it's most likely that they were commuting to and from a specific area.

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It's a defined area, but how we do it is pretty much up to us.

Hi there! Thanks for the AMA.

If you don't mind, how much do you make before and after taxes?

Before taxes I make 15 an hour.

Who pays for the gas? And how does it work? Or do you get a google credit card and just pump gas on it yourself?

Second one. Card.

What do you do if you see a Bing street view car?

We have strict orders to challenge them to a duel on the spot.

Are the house numbers that Google uses to verify an account creation from Streetview drivers?

I'm not sure I understand the question.... can you rephrase it?

He/she means the CAPTCHAs used by some websites to verify a human rather than a bot is creating an account or similar. I seem to recall they are from Streetview.

Ahhhh. I have no idea.

I've always wondered does the google car take pictures based on a timer or distance?

I actually don't know, but I would guess distance.

What is the weirdest thing that was in one of your Google shots. If you also have the picture would you kindly post it?

I don't keep the pictures, but if I could, I would post some of the people I've seen.

Are you Michael Bluth?

There's always money in the banana stand....

What is the most picturesque site you've taken pictures of while working?

I'm pretty rural, so there's lots of nice areas. Ponds with trees, older town buildings, etc.

Sounds like a great job! Do you enjoy it?

I do. Maybe not for the entire 8 hours, but for the first five it's great!

Has anything you've seen ever made you wanna nope the fuck out of there??

Really disgusting giant old people in tight clothes?

would you pick up a hitchhiker?

when not driving the car, sure. The only people allowed in the car are authorized Google staff.

how much did you get paid?

15 an hour.

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It's supposed to be 40 hours a week, but I'm not supposed to go out when it's pretty cloudy or raining.

Did google give you the car or did you have to get the paint job for your own car?

It's a company car. I just use it for my job.

Are you allowed to use the car when you aren't working?

Definitely not. I wish I could....

Have you ever had any girls flash you as you drove by?

Not yet, but I remain ever hopeful and vigilant.

What's the most stupid thing people have done just because they knew it was for Google street view?

Surprisingly not a whole lot. Maybe I map in a relatively calm area...

Do you have to remap certain areas few times? If so, how often?

I don't actually.

For work I go through images from 2007 with terrible resolution, how do they choose what segment to update next?

50 sided die to pick a state? Your guess is as good as mine.

How many other drivers are there in total? And, is it fun working for Google?

It's pretty cool, and I'm hoping a talking point later when I apply for a more permanent job. There aren't a whole lot of drivers, 100-200.

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It's a temporary thing, so I think I'll get out way before they actually transition to those cars.

What is your worst on-the-job experiance?

I can't say I have had any, It's been pretty great so far. Getting the car was probably the worst because of how long I had to drive.

Have you ever had to drive in dangerous areas?

Nope. Not that I was aware of.

Where is the coolest place google has sent you? How long is the position for, as you mentioned it was temporary?

Thanks in advance, mildly interesting stuff!

1-3 months. I actually drove right next to St. louis to get back which was awesome.

How many naked people have you seen?

42

Have you ever taken a selfie?

Nope. I am not a girl in the 12-21 year old range.

What sort of equipment is on the car itself?

Well I can't be terribly specific, but basically on top there's a soccer ball looking thing holding 15 cameras, and a computer showing me the map.

Why can't you be terribly specific? Will they beat you with sticks? Delete your Google Plus account?

1. They don't want me to.

2. I honestly don't understand how it all works, or what is all in it.

What area do you drive? South-East Pennsylvania by any chance?

I'd rather not say... but no.

Any age restrictions/minimum requirements to become a driver?

I THINK they wanted someone 21...

Why Subaru?

Subaru has a pretty good rep for being bulletproof. other than that, I'm not sure. They gave Google a good deal?

If something goes "wrong" in the pictures while you're driving around, like someone is bleeding on the floor (doubt that would ever happen), would you mark it down somewhere to make sure you know where to edit it out? What would happen in a case like that?

I don't have anything available to me to mark down "Person bleeding out" on the map unfortunately, but people review the pictures.

Do you experience animosity from people that don't like the idea of street view?

Definitely. Thankfully more people seem to be FOR it rather than against it.

Ooh! Ooh!

I've got a good question: why did you think it was clever to do an AMA after signing a non disclosure agreement?

Well because they don't expect us to keep silent on absolutely everything, they realize people want to ask questions about it. As long as we aren't disclosing specific information about equipment, software, or anything to journalists.

Is there a feeling of job insecurity among drivers over fears that Google's self-driving cars will do it all themselves?

I don't keep in contact with other drivers, but I would say most of them don't care, because most, if not all, are temporary employees and it doesn't seem like they are going to replace us anytime soon.

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Sorry, I don't think that is something that Google would share with it's drivers, or anyone really, so I have no idea what to say to that.