Friday, September 9, 2011
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
Combatting Spammy Closed Listing Labels on Google Maps
Yesterday, the New York Times published a story about business listings on Google Maps that are incorrectly being labeled as closed as a result of spam. We thought it’d be helpful to share our view about this recent issue and directly assure business owners and Maps users that we’re actively working on a solution.
Every year, millions of businesses open, close, move, change their hours, get a new website, or make other types of changes. Because we can’t be on the ground in every city and town, we enable our great community of users to let us know when something needs to be updated. The vast majority of edits people have made to business listings have improved the quality and accuracy of Google Maps for the benefit of all Maps users.
For example, when there is a pending edit that indicates that a place might be closed, our system currently displays the label, "Reported to be closed. Not true?". Only when that pending edit is reviewed and approved does the label change to, "This place is permanently closed. Not true?".
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 to prevent any malicious or incorrect labeling. These improvements will be implemented in the coming days.
We know that accurate listings on Google Maps are an important tool for many business owners. We take reports of spam and abuse very seriously and do our best to ensure the accuracy of a listing before updating it. That being said, we apologize to both business owners and users for any frustration this recent issue of spam labeling has caused, and we’re committed to making sure that users and potential customers continue to have the most up-to-date and accurate information possible.
Every year, millions of businesses open, close, move, change their hours, get a new website, or make other types of changes. Because we can’t be on the ground in every city and town, we enable our great community of users to let us know when something needs to be updated. The vast majority of edits people have made to business listings have improved the quality and accuracy of Google Maps for the benefit of all Maps users.
For example, when there is a pending edit that indicates that a place might be closed, our system currently displays the label, "Reported to be closed. Not true?". Only when that pending edit is reviewed and approved does the label change to, "This place is permanently closed. Not true?".
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 to prevent any malicious or incorrect labeling. These improvements will be implemented in the coming days.
We know that accurate listings on Google Maps are an important tool for many business owners. We take reports of spam and abuse very seriously and do our best to ensure the accuracy of a listing before updating it. That being said, we apologize to both business owners and users for any frustration this recent issue of spam labeling has caused, and we’re committed to making sure that users and potential customers continue to have the most up-to-date and accurate information possible.
Friday, September 2, 2011
Google Earth Outreach trains environmental journalists in the Amazon
In July, my Google Earth Outreach teammate Sean Askay and I traveled from the Ecuadorian Andes all the way to the Amazon basin with a group of journalists who report on environmental issues impacting the Amazon region.
We were there at the invitation of Internews’ Earth Journalism Network to train journalists on how to incorporate compelling geographic visualizations into their stories using Google’s mapping tools. Over 20 journalists and communications specialists were represented among the newly-formed Pan-Amazonia journalist network from Amazon region countries, including Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia and Brazil.
As with many a fabled Amazonian adventure, we were met with exciting challenges and adventures along the way. The first began on our bus ride through Ecuador to the Amazon - we ended up relying more on Sean’s tracking our GPS location in Google Earth to navigate to our Napo River pick-up point than on our bus driver’s directions. There were a few times that the bus driver was ready to turn around and go back, but thanks to Sean and Google Earth, we all got there in the end.
GPS track of our 9 hour bus ride from Quito, Ecuador to the Napo River
Once in the jungle, we stepped over the tarantulas and poison dart frogs to make it to our outdoor classroom at Yachana Lodge and face our next challenge: the slow internet connection. Luckily, with a Google Earth Portable Server we were able to serve satellite imagery, terrain, and vector data locally from our laptop to give the journalists easy access to Google Earth. It was one of our first trial runs with this tool, which will be very useful for future trainings and to other organizations - for example, in crisis response situations where people want to operate a full Google Earth environment despite low internet bandwidth.
Training in our “classroom” in the Amazon on the Napo River, Ecuador.
During the training we focused on developing the journalists’ skills in using Google Earth and Google Maps as research tools and for news content creation. They learned how to create quick and easy geographic visualizations to embed in a webpage with Google Maps or Google Fusion Tables, to sync photos taken in the field with GPS tracks, and to record tours in Google Earth for movie-making. With environmental threats to the Amazon coming from so many different sources, using these online mapping tools allows these journalists to cover the whole region and illustrate their stories in a visual way that’s easier for the public and policy-makers to understand.
Answering Google Earth questions during a hands-on activity with journalists.
Internew’s Earth Journalism Network and Amazonian journalists plan to use these new tools and techniques to bring the story of the Amazon to the public. James Fahn, the executive director of Earth Journalism Network, attended the training and saw many possibilities for collaboration and use of Google mapping and visualization tools for journalists covering environmental issues around the world. If this pilot project is successful, Internews hopes to bring the training to journalism networks in other countries.
Thursday, September 1, 2011
New 45° imagery available for 24 cities
This month’s update to 45° imagery in Google Maps includes coverage of more U.S. and international cities, particularly in Spain.
For example, Girona, a city in the autonomous region of Catalonia and close to the French border, has many historical monuments in the city center. One of these monuments, Santa Maria Cathedral, features several different architectural styles because it was erected during a period of more than 400 years, beginning in the 14th century.
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Another new city with 45° imagery is the city of Merida, the capital of the autonomous region of Extremadura. The city is a Roman foundation for military veterans and is full of monuments around 2,000 years old such as two Roman bridges, an amphitheater, the Circus Maximus (a horse race track), a Roman theatre, temples and more.
View Larger Map
In the U.S. we expanded coverage to cities such as Knoxville, Little Rock, Reno, Spokane, and Tallahassee to name a few. Little Rock, the capital of Arkansas, features a statehouse similar to the Capitol in Washington. The city was founded in 1812 by William Lewis but archaeological research indicates the area was settled by Native Americans much earlier.
View Larger Map
Here is a complete list of updated cities:
Augusta, GA; Badajoz, Spain; Boise, ID; Boston, MA; Fairfield, CA; Girona, Spain; Knoxville, TN; Lausanne, Switzerland; Little Rock, AR; Lodi, CA; Merida, Spain; Modesto, CA; Montgomery, AL; Murrieta Hot Springs, CA; Provo, UT; Reno, NV; Salem, OR; Sebastopol, CA; Spokane, WA; Tallahassee, FL; Vacaville , CA; Vallejo, CA; Victorville, CA; Wichita, KS; Yucaipa, CA;
*Updated the post to reflect the fact that Catalonia is an autonomous region
For example, Girona, a city in the autonomous region of Catalonia and close to the French border, has many historical monuments in the city center. One of these monuments, Santa Maria Cathedral, features several different architectural styles because it was erected during a period of more than 400 years, beginning in the 14th century.
View Larger Map
Another new city with 45° imagery is the city of Merida, the capital of the autonomous region of Extremadura. The city is a Roman foundation for military veterans and is full of monuments around 2,000 years old such as two Roman bridges, an amphitheater, the Circus Maximus (a horse race track), a Roman theatre, temples and more.
View Larger Map
In the U.S. we expanded coverage to cities such as Knoxville, Little Rock, Reno, Spokane, and Tallahassee to name a few. Little Rock, the capital of Arkansas, features a statehouse similar to the Capitol in Washington. The city was founded in 1812 by William Lewis but archaeological research indicates the area was settled by Native Americans much earlier.
View Larger Map
Here is a complete list of updated cities:
Augusta, GA; Badajoz, Spain; Boise, ID; Boston, MA; Fairfield, CA; Girona, Spain; Knoxville, TN; Lausanne, Switzerland; Little Rock, AR; Lodi, CA; Merida, Spain; Modesto, CA; Montgomery, AL; Murrieta Hot Springs, CA; Provo, UT; Reno, NV; Salem, OR; Sebastopol, CA; Spokane, WA; Tallahassee, FL; Vacaville , CA; Vallejo, CA; Victorville, CA; Wichita, KS; Yucaipa, CA;
*Updated the post to reflect the fact that Catalonia is an autonomous region
Using Google Earth to hunt for treasure
For as long as I can remember my dad has had a real knack for doing puzzles, in particular cryptic crosswords. On the other hand, I don’t have a clue when it comes to puzzles. I just don’t seem to be able to get into that “figuring out puzzles” mindset. But my time may have come with the release of a new book The Great Global Treasure Hunt on Google Earth by Carlton Books.
Filled with beautiful artwork, The Great Global Treasure Hunt allows you to take part in an interactive puzzle quest that could lead to a €50,000 prize. You can take part in a journey of discovery as the book works with Google Earth to reveal a series of textual and visual clues. Once you’ve made sense of each of these, a picture will begin to emerge leading you to a specific location on Google Earth. When you think you picked apart the clues set by the book’s puzzle master, Dedopulos, you can submit your answer online for your chance to win the €50,000 prize.
One of Google Earth’s most notable attributes is its ability to facilitate a better understanding of the world around us. With more than 700 million activations, a new breed of “armchair explorers” with a thirst for information are using Google Earth to make new discoveries and enhance their understanding of our planet - and sometimes further afield. I’m really excited that this book uses Google Earth to add a 21st century technological twist to the world of mysteries and puzzles.
Happy hunting everyone.