What's Will Google Do With User Generated Locations?

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Wednesday, November 21. 2007

What's Will Google Do With User Generated Locations?

No doubt you've read that now those logged in to Google can "move" pushpins of business locations to their "correct" location (assuming no one else has "claimed" it). Those who call it up then see the adjusted location and the option to see the original location. (More at Search Engine Land among others. Techdirt wants to edit even more about the listing.)

Here's my thought: Google could sell/give/provide those updates (perhaps in a feed) to say NAVTEQ/Tele Atlas for use their updates. That would be a whole different universe of people I think than those with the patience to find and use those companies "reporting" features.

Posted by Adena Schutzberg in Google at 06:20 | Comments (9) | Trackbacks (0)

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I hope this will be the first step to open up the content on the map and be able to improve this. When I use google maps I am often disappointed by missing neighborhood and wrong directional flows (i.e. one way streets).

Obviously, Google will need permision from the map providors (Tele Atlas, Navteq, AND, Zenrin, etc).

#1 Scott on 2007-11-21 07:30 (Reply)

I think i have seen that option already by AND, via www.map20.org.

#1.1 Bon on 2007-11-21 09:21 (Reply)

Let me get your proposed concept straight.

You'd like for Google, who have a method and a means for points to be corrected through the community aspects of the model -- to turn around and give these corrected data-points away?

That is very interesting, and in consideration that I've never once seen an industry model by anyone out there who would be willing to give-out a corrected set to any other supplier.

Please correct me if I'm wrong in this thinking.

#2 Daniel (Link) on 2007-11-21 21:39 (Reply)

Hi,

At Directions Magazine francais, we interviewed one of www.tellmewhere.com founder and this is the modele they try to push. You participate, you can download sets of POI in your GPS...

#2.1 Luc Vaillancourt (Link) on 2007-11-22 10:02 (Reply)

I wouldn't consider that the same model, Luc. What Google has the capability to do -- within the community model they have -- is to 're-register' or 'correct' points of interest (POI). That is potentially significant, considering that we're talking about 'enhancing' various layers to become more accurate from what was supplied to them by source.

They very well could consider giving it away, if they so chose to do so. I would imagine that would also depend on their supplier agreements since the 'enhanced' version is based on the original source.

#2.1.1 Daniel (Link) on 2007-11-22 21:22 (Reply)

I only see the potional for a fairly crappy dataset. With no indication on who moved what and having a single point corrected in a sea of somthing else I dont see the usefullness.

#3 Jim Hall on 2007-11-25 07:48 (Reply)

Actually, Jim. It'd be relatively easy to parse input data and double, triple, quadruple-check points based on >x inputs per point. In time, the dataset becomes for meaningful, more accurate based on such an approach. In that sense, if any of the points are far away from an acceptable margin, they'd be scrapped in favor of those points that are within a very distinct position. Those points could then be averaged, for instance, to generate a finalized point.

I mean, if we're talking about address anomolies -- which are far too frequent in most datasets as it is, any improvements made [wisely] would be an asset moving forward, wouldn't you agree? Unless anyone has a better, more efficient method of handling such a task that they might like to propose?

Your only other option is hiring and rigging an army of people with GPS in order to take the correct points in literally every neighboorhood and city block and matching those points to each address label.

Both options are possible. Which one would be prefered?

#3.1 Daniel (Link) on 2007-11-26 04:43 (Reply)

I'm not sure the goal is to get everyone's house location correct. Google runs an ad-based business model and maps are about local advertising. Using Google's Local Business Center" a business can apply to get "ownership" of his/her location, thereby preventing someone from mis-locating it across the road or similar. In that case, Google's goal may be to get a list of those business owners who can then be targeted for local advertising sales. Google's historical disadvantage vs the yellow pages has always been the lack of a sales force on the ground. This would be a method to get a list of sales leads through self nomination.

#4 marc on 2007-11-26 19:11 (Reply)

I can't argue with that, Marc. But I do see more potential if it can be applied eventually.

#4.1 Daniel (Link) on 2007-11-26 22:45 (Reply)

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