Why Is My Google Street View Tour Missing Images?

After publishing a virtual tour, I open it in Google Maps and follow the route. Sometimes the navigation stops even though I connected more panoramas in GoThru. The next image is missing.

Google Maps does not explain the cause from the tour view. I use Street View Status in GoThru to identify the missing image. It may appear as Map Rejected, the label I use for a panorama that Google received but did not accept for display on the map. When that panorama is absent from the published route, navigation stops at the gap.

In this video, I show how I find those images, change the initial view Google receives, and republish them. If recentering is not enough, I blur the area that appears to be triggering the rejection.

Check Street View Status after Google finishes processing

I wait about 30 minutes after publishing a smaller tour and closer to one hour for a larger tour. Then I click Street View Status. GoThru compares the tour in my account with what is available on Google.

The tour in the video contains about 200 panoramas. Six are missing from Google and appear as Map Rejected in GoThru. I click Edit 360 Images, and GoThru marks those panoramas in bright magenta so I can find them quickly.

Inspect the missing panoramas

Google does not tell me exactly what its automated review detected. These are the patterns I often see in images that appear to be false positives:

• exposed skin or skin-like colors in posters, paintings and advertising;
• statues, silhouettes or shapes resembling parts of a human body;
• curved or wavy walls;
• long hallways.

These are my observations, not official Google rules. This method is for images that appear to have been rejected by mistake. It should not be used to conceal content that violates Google's policies.

Recenter the missing panorama

Google appears to evaluate a panorama from its initial viewpoint. I use GoThru's Image Centering Tool to present a different part of the same 360 image first.

For each missing panorama, I do the following:

1. Click the three-dot menu beside the image and delete the rejected copy from Google.
2. Open the Image Centering Tool.
3. Rotate the panorama so the suspected trigger is no longer in the center.
4. Move that area toward an outer edge when possible.
5. Apply the new center.
6. Repeat for the other missing panoramas.
7. Republish the tour to Google.

Recentering does not remove anything from the panorama. GoThru also adjusts the heading so the movement arrows remain aligned with the connected tour.

Republish and test the broken section

In the video, I wait about 10 to 15 minutes after republishing the six affected panoramas, then check Street View Status again. Five of the six are approved after the first recentering attempt. This is one tour, not a guaranteed result or processing time.

I also open the tour at the same place where navigation stopped and test the route again. The individual panoramas may appear before Google restores all their navigation connections, so the connections can take a little longer.

If an image remains rejected, I move the initial view again, delete the rejected Google copy, and republish it. In my experience, a stubborn panorama can take between one and five attempts.

Blur the problem area when recentering is not enough

One panorama in the video remains rejected because there is no initial viewpoint that avoids all the wavy geometry and skin-like colors. At that point, I use a selective blur:

1. Click the image connector to open the panorama in GoThru Moderator.
2. Press B or select Blur Mode from the menu.
3. Hold Shift until the cursor becomes a crosshair.
4. Hold the left mouse button and drag a box over the area that may be causing the rejection.
5. While still in Blur Mode, click Blur directly in the Moderator.
6. Republish the tour and check the same section again after Google processes it.

I blur only the area that needs it. Google makes the final approval decision, so GoThru cannot guarantee that every panorama will be accepted.

Learn more about creating, checking and republishing connected Street View tours with GoThru Moderator.