Google City Tours

Shows pros and cons of automated content creation

[signor_john]

The new "City Tours" project from Google Labs illustrates the possibilities and limitations of automated content creation.

[citytours.googlelabs.com...]

[icedowl]

I get absolutely no results for any place in my area: Reno, Lake Tahoe, Carson City.

[LifeinAsia]

Where's the Beta label? Very buggy!

[signor_john]

Well, it's at the Googlelabs domain, so I'd say it's more of an alpha than a beta.

I don't think anyone (Google Labs included) would claim that Google City Tours are ready for prime time. But, as I said earlier, it does illustrate the possibilities and limitations of automated content generation. There's nothing Google City Tours does that couldn't be done better by a reasonably competent college student with a map and a list of landmarks, attractions, etc. Still, the concept might be useful (at least minimally) for places that don't have human-edited equivalents available. I don't see Google City Tours being a threat to Rand-McNally, Fodors, or Lonely Planet, but when it's been refined a bit, it might be a handy extension of Google Maps.