Over at the Official Google Blog today, Google Street Views product manager Stephen Chau waxes poetic about Street Views' first year of existence. He also casually mentions that, starting today, the number of streets and areas covered by Street Views in the United States is doubling with the addition of a few key states.Street Views has had an interesting year. It started life only available through a PC-based browser. It later extended its reach out to mobile phones. It started in just 23 U.S. cities, but has since expanded around the globe to Australia, France, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, and Spain.

According to Chau, "Today marks our biggest launch of Street View imagery to date: we're doubling our coverage in the United States. Several states -- Maine, West Virginia, North Dakota, and South Dakota -- will be getting the Street View treatment for the first time. We've also added imagery for Memphis, Charleston (S.C.), and Birmingham, and we've filled in lots of gaps across the country."

Not all of this expansion has been met with welcome arms. Google has faced lawsuits and bad press from individuals who were captured by Google's Street Views cameras, or by those who felt their rights were trampled or their privacy invaded. That hasn't stopped Google from plowing forward with the Street Views product (and its cars).

Chau notes that, "Between today's launch and all the other launches this year, 2008 saw a 22-fold increase in the amount of Street View imagery available around the world."

I am looking forward to what Street Views will offer in 2009.