Google Aims to Close Google Maps Loophole

From PC World: Google says it's working to keep the virtual lights on for businesses that are being incorrectly labeled as "closed" on Google Maps. The issue was raised in a New York Times article that profiled a handful of businesses that had been temporarily labeled closed on Google Maps, apparently due to what Google product manager Ethan Russell calls "malicious or incorrect labeling."

"About two weeks ago, news in the blogosphere made us aware that abuse -- such as ‘place closed’ spam labels -- was occurring. And since then, we've been working on improvements to the system," Russell wrote on the company’s Lat Long Blog.

The problem appears to be that it's pretty easy to report that a place is closed on Google Maps. Anyone can do it with just a few clicks, and according to the Times, it only takes a few reports of a place being closed to change its status on Google Maps.

I decided to put the Times’ theory to the test by reporting a coffee shop near my home as “closed.” The shop, “The Bean,” closed its doors this year, but the store and its second location, which closed long ago, were both listed as open for business as places on Google Maps.

By simply clicking on "Report a Problem" and reporting the store as closed, the deed was done. Almost instantly a "Reported to be closed" label began appearing under the Bean's name. I closed both of the now-defunct Beans and saw the same result -- instant virtual closure.

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