One of our valued clients, Emerson Creek Pottery is experiencing a serious issue with the way in which Google has mapped their locale and pinned their location.
The client’s correct location is at:
Emerson Creek Pottery
1068 Pottery Lane
Bedford, VA
24523
The Google Place Page for the client is listing them at an erroneous address on the nearby highway, but instead of going through the normal process of correcting the address, we are dealing with a far more complex issue because the map and labeling of the area is wrong. A private driveway is incorrectly labeled as being Pottery Ln., and the actual Pottery Ln. is being mislabeled as both Pecks Rd. and State Route 725. Roads that dead end at the private driveway are being displayed on the map as if they were accessible to the public. A whole lot of problems. See my illustration here and click for an enlarged lightbox:
Click Here to View Larger Image
I needed advice on how to proceed, as I cannot change the address or move the pin until the roads are correctly displayed on the map. Google TC and Local SEO extraordinare,
Mike Blumenthal kindly suggested that I make multiple reports via the Google ‘Report A Problem’ link at the bottom of the Place Page, dropping a pin at each point of error. These reports will then apparently flow into Google MapMaker. This will certainly be time consuming on my part, but definitely worth it if I can communicate to Google that their map is wrong and get it corrected. I felt it would be worth it to document the process here for others who find themselves in a similar situation.
After speaking with the client about this, we were able to discern that the incorrect map probably has its roots in the fact that this region used to be dirt roads that were then paved and changed some 5+ years ago. Google’s map is somewhat of a reflection of the old dirt road system and does not accurately reflect the roads drivers will find there if they are visiting the pottery today.
I will update this blog post as I make progress.
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Update 4/19/2012
Made three separate reports regarding the various issues, doing my best to describe the problems with the map and address.
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Update 4/23/2012
Made a new report highlighting the fact that Google is incorrectly displaying a pinned results next to a business name search in the main engine. Google is confusing a restaurant in Illinois that sells some of this client’s pottery with their actual pottery shop in Bedford, VA. Misleading to Internet searchers. *Note, some problems are so complex and Google wants you to state them in 1000 characters. Difficult to do.
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Update 4/30/2012
Client received several emails like this from Google:
Hi Jim Leavitt,
Thanks again for sharing your local expertise with other Google users! We have reviewed Emerson Creek Pottery because of your report.
If there is still anything wrong in our information about Emerson Creek
Pottery on Google Maps
(http://maps.google.com/maps/place?cid=7610707399891290515), please consider updating it directly via the “edit” link, or reporting another problem.
Thanks for your help
The Google Maps team
Nothing has been fixed by Google, so we’re not any further along in the process after taking the time to report all of these things. I have to consider what steps to take next.
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