In April, Google relaunched the Google Local Business Center as Google Places and one part of that relaunch was the release of a FREE Google Business Photo program. The Business Photo program lets you include pictures of your business in Google Maps, done by Google.

The key points, as Google said are:

It’s free! Just apply to have Google take photographs.
Show off your business to new customers around the world.
Enhance your Place Page to stand out above the competition.

But some people are trying to take advantage of those unaware of it being free. A Google Places Help thread has one business owner saying that he was contacted by someone saying they are with Google offering this as a paid service.

He said:

$489 for something that is free.

Cecelia from the Google Maps team replied saying:

Forum discussion at Google Places Help.