Google Map Maker Back Up In Six Countries With More To Follow Soon

After a several-month hiatus triggered by hacking, racist map references and other online mischief, Google recently announced that Map Maker would be reopening in August. As of today, editing is back in six countries: Bangladesh, Brazil, Canada, India, the Philippines and Ukraine.

As previously explained, Google will substantially rely on selected regional lead moderators to review edits, though it will continue to do some automated and human moderation in-house. In support of this new approach, Google previously said, “We have come to the conclusion that of all the defenses available to keeping our maps clean, the interest of a community of well-intentioned users is among the most reliable and fast.”

The reopening of Map Maker today is part of a phased reopening that will continue over the course of this month and presumably beyond. It’s not clear yet how long it will take to get Map Maker back up for all regions and countries.

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Greg Sterling

Greg Sterling is a Contributing Editor at Search Engine Land. He researches and writes about the connections between digital and offline commerce. He is also VP of Strategy and Insights for the Local Search Association. Follow him on Twitter or find him at Google+.