# Why would a German business blur their sign in Google street view? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 6, 2015, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-a-german-business-blur-their-sign-in-google-street-view/709170 "2015-01-06T22:58:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2015, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-a-german-business-blur-their-sign-in-google-street-view/709170/1 "2015-01-06T22:58:51Z")
I like armchair traveling using the Google street view guy. I see that most of Germany is off the grid and I read that they’re more sensitive about privacy and don’t fancy the idea of their homes being visible on street view. There are a few major German cities on street view, but many homes and apartments are blurred out. I can’t say I blame them; I’m starting to get a bit paranoid myself. But why on earth would a business want their signage obscured? I saw some cute taverns in Cologne that I wanted to google up and see what Yelp had to say about them. But their signs were blurred! What’s the sense in that? ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Downtown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Mr\_Downtown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Downtown)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2015, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-a-german-business-blur-their-sign-in-google-street-view/709170/2 "2015-01-07T05:07:13Z")
Perhaps the pattern recognition algorithm mistook the sign for a number (license) plate. The face-blur routine does billboards as well as real people. I frequently see blurred signs on Street View. ---
**Author:** ![chappachula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2015, 7:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-a-german-business-blur-their-sign-in-google-street-view/709170/3 "2015-01-07T07:37:23Z")
Are you sure the blurring is deliberate? How does blurring work, anyway? Can any private citizen call up Google Street View and say “I want my house blurred” ? Or how about a government agency,(say, a police department)? ---
**Author:** ![BOOM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c4cdca/32.png) [@BOOM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BOOM)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2015, 7:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-a-german-business-blur-their-sign-in-google-street-view/709170/4 "2015-01-07T07:42:36Z")
Maybe they’re old fashioned and prefer to be asked first. ---
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Lichtman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeff_lichtman/32/1531_2.png) [@Jeff\_Lichtman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Lichtman)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2015, 7:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-a-german-business-blur-their-sign-in-google-street-view/709170/5 "2015-01-07T07:49:54Z")
Google street view blurs all kinds of stuff, and not just in Germany. I have seen it blur street signs in the U.S. It uses an algorithm to decide what to blur, and it gets things wrong sometimes. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2015, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-a-german-business-blur-their-sign-in-google-street-view/709170/6 "2015-01-07T15:58:10Z")
It would not surprise me at all if some greedy fucker at Google says, “We ain’t advertising these places for FREE!”, and decided to blur them out. Its always about money! ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2015, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-a-german-business-blur-their-sign-in-google-street-view/709170/7 "2015-01-07T16:02:52Z")
The point about Google mistaking a business sign for a license plate makes sense. > [@chappachula](#): > > Are you sure the blurring is deliberate? > > How does blurring work, anyway? Can any private citizen call up Google Street View and say “I want my house blurred” ? Or how about a government agency,(say, a police department)? After I posted this thread, I found this [article](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/07/07/remove-google-street-view_n_5563939.html), among others, discussing how to request having your house blurred. I had never seen any American house blurred out, so I was skeptical. But just for a lark, my husband followed the instructions and it worked! Our house is now blurred just like all the ones we saw in Germany. We’re trend-setters! ---
**Author:** ![Mops](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mops/32/16494_2.png) [@Mops](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mops)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2015, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-a-german-business-blur-their-sign-in-google-street-view/709170/8 "2015-01-07T16:11:53Z")
I concur on the algorithm probably mistaking the signs for either a license plate or a face. Never heard of Google offering to blur signs on demand (a lot of whole buildings are blurred here in Germany - it only takes a request of _one_ resident in the building)