Google Maps Goes Wikimapia, Lets The People Move The Map Points

Registered Google users are now permitted to adjust the place markers for businesses on Google Maps and soon will have the ability to more broadly edit local business information. Changes will initially go through a human editorial process to ensure the accuracy and propriety of information as the new capabilities are rolled out. Google told […]

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Registered Google users are

now permitted
to adjust the place markers for businesses on
Google Maps and soon will have the ability to more
broadly edit local business information. Changes will initially go through a
human editorial process to ensure the accuracy and propriety of information as
the new capabilities are rolled out. Google told us that business owners will
have final authority over their listings. More about the changes below,
including an illustrated how-to guide.

The move is consistent with increasing "socialization" or openness of Google
and part of a broader effort to obtain fresher and better local data. Allowing
the community and business owners to edit and update information is the only
viable way to have an accurate database. As diligent as the various providers
are in updating and correcting local listings, the commercial databases are full
of inaccurate and outdated information. For these reasons, Yahoo has had
a
similar system
in place since January 2007.

Google’s
My
Maps
, rolled out in April (see
Google My Maps: Mashups
For The Masses
), has already become an enormously successful product for the
company, resulting in creative and often

non-traditional data
on the map. In some cases, My Maps has allowed the
creation of content that wouldn’t otherwise exist because of the absence of
commercial databases (i.e., in some non-Western countries). It’s also been
recently used more by news publishers, such as with the recent
Southern California
fires
or the San
Francisco Bay oil spill
.

In addition to My Maps, in June Google started allowing users to

write reviews
about local businesses directly on Google. Now the business
locations themselves can be adjusted. Here are some examples of how it works.

The search below is to find Albertsons supermarket in Newport Beach,
California (see it on Google Maps

here
; it’s marker A in the screenshot below):


Albertsons In Newport Beach

Google Maps actually places the store along Balboa Boulevard, while it is instead
within
a shopping center between Balboa and Newport boulevards. The arrow below shows
where it should be:


Albertsons Correct Location

Unfortunately for the user, the marker location can’t be moved. That’s because the
business owner has already claimed the listing, as you can see when you zoom in
for more details:


Albertsons Info Window

That’s an additional reason business owners may want to claim their listings
on Google Maps — to prevent others from editing them (though Google does say
editors will review changes to prevent abuses).

Next is a search for Let It Roll, a bicycle rental shop next to Albertsons
(again, see it on the map

here
):


Let It Roll, Wrong Location

As you can see, it appears in the same incorrect spot as Albertsons. But
since this business listing has not been claimed, it can be edited. That’s why
the "Edit" link appears in the business pop-up window:


Let It Roll Info Window

Clicking on edit gives an option to "Move Marker," as shown below:


Edit Location Option In Google Maps

And selecting that brings up the move window:


Moving Let It Roll

After dragging it to the correct location:


Moving Let It Roll

You then save and get a confirmation:


Let It Roll, Adjusted In Google Maps

In the window, in something that feels like Wikipedia’s history feature, you can also see the
person who made the change (in this case, our editor-in-chief Danny Sullivan, a
former Newport Beach resident). You can also click on the "Show original" link to jump
back to where the placeholder was originally.

John Hanke, director of Google Earth & Maps, told Danny and me on a call last
week that the number of local businesses that had
interacted with Google’s
Local
Business Center
was in the "low seven figures" which is a
"fraction" of the total businesses that Google Maps lists (there are about 20
million "entities" with information about them, Google says). I found that to be a
remarkable statement and a

reflection of the potential
that Google has to directly tap into the SMB
market.

Arguably, Maps is Google’s most successful product outside its core search
engine. The company has certainly committed the resources to making it an
increasingly rich user experience (e.g.,
StreetView) . However, all the "bells & whistles" don’t mean as much if the
base data are inaccurate or incomplete; hence, the new edit feature.

For more about the new feature, see Google’s blog

post
that’s now live, as well as the new dedicated help
area,
FAQ page, and advice
for business owners (including links on
how to claim
your listing). The new feature currently only works within the US, Australia and
New Zealand versions of Google Maps but will roll out to other versions in the
near future. See also discussion on
Techmeme.


Opinions expressed in this article are those of the guest author and not necessarily Search Engine Land. Staff authors are listed here.


About the author

Greg Sterling
Contributor
Greg Sterling is a Contributing Editor to Search Engine Land, a member of the programming team for SMX events and the VP, Market Insights at Uberall.

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