Another Casualty of Local Search Data Inaccuracy

My wife had an appointment to see a doctor this morning. We have recently moved so this was her first visit. Right before she left she asked if I would write down the address. I typed in the doctor’s name in Google Maps, and printed off a map with the address of the only listing it found. Then I get a phone call 5 minutes before her appointment is to start, it was my wife. That was his old office! I scramble for the Yellow Pages (don’t like opening that) and find his current address! A live results search can’t tell me what a printed huge mass of paper phone book can? So now she’s late to her appointment, not happy with me and for being late, and has to apologize to the doctor.

I was talking with Mike Blumenthal about this today, and his response was “ah another casualty” (hence the title, thanks Mike). He has posted recently some interviews about holding local to higher standards (and here). I knew the data was inaccurate, but it really hits home when you (or your wife) experience it first hand.

Of course Google has a disclaimer, right there on the bottom right of the map is the Terms of Use, part of which says:

Google makes no representations or warranties regarding the accuracy or completeness of the information provided by these third parties. Your use of third party content may be subject to additional terms that can be found on our Legal Notices page.

So they lay the blame on third parties. Anyone in business understands this, sure, but really if Google is going to profit from this data I would expect it to be updated and accurate. How can a printed phone book of hundreds of pages have the address right and Google not have a clue?

This afternoon I went back to the listing and clicked the “edit” button. I edited the listing with the actual name of the doctor’s practice, and the doctor’s name, and the new address. Thankfully they are at least relying on some user-generated content (UGC), it’s better than nothing.

This entry was posted on Monday, March 31st, 2008 at 4:07 pm and is filed under Google Maps. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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