Whereas the general public, offenders and law enforcement agencies have already discovered the power of these online mapping services and use them daily, criminologists, somewhat surprisingly, seem not to have fully discovered the advantages of using Google Maps and Street View in their research. However, while there are abundant examples of studies that apply Google Maps and Street View in related scientific fields, only a few criminological studies have tapped into the power of online mapping technologies for research purposes.

For instance, geographers rely on aerial photography from Google Maps as an alternative to expensive commercial satellite imagery (Pringle ) and biologists tap into Street View imagery to assess the habitat of certain animal species (Olea and Mateo-Tomás ).

Several scientific disciplines were quick to implement these web mapping applications in their research. Although Google Maps and Street View have not been developed with scientific research in mind, they create interesting possibilities for research.

Google instant street view