Contents
Download this guide as a pdf
Here's what you need to know to get the most out of this powerful technique.
How-to?
1- Geo-tagging you video:
During the upload process on YouTube you can geo-tag your video with a location:
Once the location has been recorded and the video uploaded it will appear on Google Earth.
2- How to display geo-tagged Youtube videos on Google Earth?
To activate the Google YouTube layer, you have to navigate to the “Layers” menu on the left-hand side of Google Earth. Expanding the “Gallery” node in the layers tree will expose the “Youtube” layer. Once you check the box next to Youtube Layer all the Google YouTube icons appear all over the globe.
Successful use of the Geo-bombing technique
This technique has been used by Tunisian activists from the collective blog Nawaat.org (The Core) to link tens of video testimonies of Tunisian political prisoners and human rights defenders to the Tunisian presidential palace’s location on Google Earth. Now, as you fly over the Tunisian presidential palace on Google Earth you will see it covered with the very same videos about civil liberties which Ben Ali was trying to prevent Tunisian Netizens from watching by blocking both popular video-sharing websites, Youtube and DailyMotion.
virtual Sit-in at Tunisian Presidential Palace
Reviews
Tunisian activists and their allies organised a “digital sit-in”, linking dozens of videos about civil liberties to the image of the presidential palace in Google Earth. That turned a low-key human-rights story into a fashionable global campaign.
The Economist – Authoritarian governments can lock up bloggers. It is harder to outwit them
It’s remarkable how little Google Earth bombing there’s been, considering the high profile of the application (…) Time to define “Google geobombing” or “Google Earth bombing”, then (…) Even if the definition is a bit dry, there’s not doubt that Google geobombing is great cheap guerrilla PR.
Ogle Earth – Google Earth bombing for a free Tunisia
The online campaign not only bypasses and mocks the regime’s ban on video-sharing sites, but also reaches foreigners who may not be aware of abuses inside Tunisia. For the first time, virtual tourists to Tunisia can see a dark side to historic sites and beautiful beaches.
C.R.I.M.E Report - Virtual Sit-in at Tunisian Presidential Palace
