The Ugly Side of Crowdsourcing

Goggle has announced its 3D Building maker for Google Earth. It looks really nice and simple. I think Google is getting that most people aren’t expert 3D modelers, and as such, simple tools that produce simple models will go a long way in modeling the entire planet.

Google’s intention is great at face value. However, I can’t help but wonder what will Google do with all that content produced by thousands of people around the world. If Goggle ever monetizes Google Earth, will it give back to the creators of those buildings? Or, like what Google does on the Web, will it take the content and run its own business without paying back to content producers?