Google StreetView API Broken March 5, 2010

A recent change in the Google Map API has corrupted a key functionality in StreetView, namely the ability to detect the availability of street view data given a specific set of geo coordinates. This issue has been spotted by 5 independent sources as early as March 4th, 2010.

Antradar has prepared 4 lines of code (2 lines per scenario) to reproduce this bug:

If the geo location in question has street view data, as in the following case, the street view client behaves correctly.

var pano=new GStreetviewClient();
pano.getNearestPanorama(new GLatLng(42.3584,-71.0598), function(data){alert('okay')});

If there's no street view data available in the queried location, the call to getNearestPanorama results in a JavaScript syntax error:

var pano=new GStreetviewClient();
pano.getNearestPanorama(new GLatLng(39.3996,-74.5127), function(data){alert('okay')});

Previously the data that is passed back by the call-back function contained status code. Unavailable street view data is expressed by code 600. It seems that the server is rejecting the request, causing subsequent JavaScript calls to a null object.

It is also worth noting that the error cannot be intercepted by a try-catch block due to the asynchronous nature of the call-back function.

At the time of writing, Google has not officially confirmed this bug. Websites that offer integrated street view, such as The Rentables has temporarily disabled this feature.

If your website is also affected, we would like to hear from you.