Google’s Open Spot application for Android phones allows users to add notifications in busy city areas to let other users know when there are open parking spaces and where they’re at, to make it easier for people to navigate big-city and small-town areas alike, as well as make it easier for people to find parking in seemingly endless seas of parked cars! This application can work wonders at amusement parks, downtown or inner-city areas, airports, and much more. Here’s an excerpt from the Open Spot homepage:

Open Spot works by letting people who are leaving parking spots share their spots with people who are searching for parking.

Start helping others find parking, and together we’ll all save time, save gas, and reduce pollution. Like to keep score? The more open spots you mark, the more parking ‘karma points’ you’ll get.

Go to Google Open Spot to download this application.

Open Spot FAQ

• Why can’t I find Open Spot in the Market?Open Spot requires your phone be running Android 2.0 or higher, and is currently only available in the US, Canada, and the Netherlands. If you’re not in a supported country with a supported phone, Open Spot won’t show up in the Market.
  • If you’re not in one of the countries we support, we’re sorry we can’t help you just yet. We understand looking for parking is no fun regardless of where you are. We’ll do our best to include as many countries as we can.
  • If your phone is not running Android 2.0 or higher, please see the FAQ below, Will Open Spot work on my phone?, for more information about Android versions Open Spot supports.
• Will Open Spot work on my phone?If your phone is running Android 2.0 or higher, Open Spot should work. If your phone fits that description and it doesn’t work, please consider letting us know on the discussion group, Open Spot Discuss.We understand there are many people with 1.x versions of Android. We’ll do our best to support as many versions as we can. We are a small team doing a labs experiment so we may not be able to support all devices and versions of the OS right away. Thanks for your patience.
• How large an area will Open Spot show me available parking for? Open Spot will show you parking spots located within a ~1.5 kilometer (km) / ~.9 mile (mi) radius of your location. As you move, Open Spot will automatically refresh to show you parking spots within a ~1.5 km / ~.9 radius of where you currently are.
• How long are marked spots displayed in Open Spot?
  
  Spots are removed from the map after 20 minutes. We know that 20 minutes is a long time for a parking spot to stay open, but we think that more information about available parking is better than less.
• What do the colors of the pins mean? Is red better or worse?
  • Red pins are freshly-marked spots.
  • Orange pins are spots marked over 5 minutes ago.
  • Yellow pins are spots marked over 10 minutes ago.

  We’re working on clearer ways to show you what spots are the most recent. Feel free to share your ideas with us. You can reach us at openspot@google.com or join our discussion group, Open Spot Discuss.

• Why can’t I see any spaces near me when I use Open Spot?
  
  There are a couple reasons why you might not see any parking near you:
  • No fresh spots available
    
    We remove spots from the map after 20 minutes. Although 20 minutes is a long time for a parking spot to stay open in places where parking is hard to find, we think that knowing where someone has recently left a parking spot might be useful information.
  • Not enough users near you
    
    Another reason you might not see any parking nearby is there may not be enough Open Spot users in your area.You can help with this two ways. First, tell your friends and neighbors to use Open Spot. As more people share parking information using Open Spot, your area’s network will get bigger and better for everyone. Second, be sure to regularly use Open Spot to mark spaces. If you mark spots when you leave them, you’ll increase the chances that other people will see your mark. And, as more people use Open Spot, more people will share their parking spots as well.Remember, it’s a big parking lot out there, but you are not alone.
• What about people who mark spots when there aren’t any?
  
  We call these people ‘griefers’. We’re watching for behavior that looks like a griefer spoofing parking spots. We have a couple of mechanisms available to make sure someone can’t leave a bunch of fake parking spots. If we see this happening we will take steps to fix it.