When Google Local Gets it Wrong

Now, don’t get me wrong. Google Local and Google Maps are extremely valuable tools that I use a few times every week. But every so often they get something wrong–so wrong, in fact, that I’m not sure where the wires got crossed.

Let’s assume I wanted to stop by a local pub on a Saturday night. Maybe I’d want to check out the website first to see what was going on, so I’d type in the name and town [molly blooms amityville] and get this result:

For those of you who might not remember, I live in New York (more specifically on Long Island). The last time I checked I’m pretty sure that’s part of the United States. Not Canada. However, sometimes odd things happen and, for one reason or another, maybe the domain is somehow connected to Canada. But a quick check of the Molly Blooms location page reveals locations in Canada not the US (thanks Rae).

Granted, there are probably a hundred or so bars across the country name Molly Bloom’s, so this isn’t entirely out of left field, but you know that PhD’s who can figure out how to connect you to your abusive ex husband should be able to figure out what country something is in. I clicked the “is that accurate” link and said no it wasn’t. Since there was no form, however, I couldn’t tell them what was wrong. I have to hope the person on the other end can figure out Amityville (famous for the Amityville Horror House) is actually a few hundred miles away from Canada and is not connected to the right domain name. If only Google had put search wiki technology someplace where comments might be useful …
photo credit: frielp

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This post originally came from Michael Gray who is an SEO Consultant. Be sure not to miss the Thesis Wordpress Theme review.

When Google Local Gets it Wrong

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