Hi everyone,
My name is Toni and I am a Norwegian based in London.
I come from a small town in Norway called Bardufoss, where my interest in Google Maps started.
What makes Google Map great to me is connecting the community.
A user friendly and detailed map has the power to encourage adventure and discovery.
In the early days, I was hooked on Google Earth, plugging a Xbox 360 controller to fly around my area and the world. I also used the discontinued app called Google Map Maker, which had features I sorely miss (creating footpaths, anyone?). Exploring here encouraged me to explore in real life.
However, due to the fact that I come from an area above the Arctic Circle with a small population, it quickly became apparent that the maps in Google had a lot to be desired, and it also had an issue understanding our Norwegian language, which had to be fixed.
Lack of details in the local businesses:
A lot of the local businesses are made by baby boomers, who did not know how to add opening hours, pictures and understand marketing. Facebook groups have become the norm to the locals to promote everything, but it seems too narrow minded, as it excludes tourists and newcomers.
I have tried my best update as much as I can on Google Maps, but my dream is to take a week in Bardufoss and go around as many businesses as possible, take pictures and add any other details on Google Maps. If it was possible, I would have liked to add companies’ FB page, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube channel and so on.
I want Bardufoss to grow and let the community see what it has to offer.
Adding roads:
Using Google Maps to get from A to B has been challenging as well, due to lack of names and non-existing roads. I try my best to let Google know if there are new roads and neighbourhoods added. Occasionally they draw a new road off the mark as it is hard to read a satellite map, so I wish at times it was my job to do so. After adding new roads and naming the roads I found Google Map to be easier to use in my area.
This is also important in my profession, as I work on film productions and want the crew members know where to go. Google Maps help us get things done more quickly, if we all know the directions and the local business hours.
Google Maps do make some odd changes. Before I was able to select parts of the roads to make it clear what the name of this and that road is, when it starts and ends, but now I am unable to. I hope that they can make it more of a user friendly experience.
The Issue with Norwegian Language:
The problem with the Norwegian language is that it consist of 2 written languages, which in turn affects the way people writes the word “road”: in Norwegian Bokmaal, it’s “veien”, in Norwegian Nynorsk, it’s “vegen”.
They have also named the roads with these differences and this is where things are getting confusing. The name “Einervegen” is in Tananger, Haugesund, Porsgrunn, Råholt, Kleppe etc… The name “Einerveien” is in Sandnes, Langhus, Skoppum, Oslo, Sofiemyr etc…
So, this became a problem, as I typed in Nordliveien in Bardufoss, but Google Map by mistake redirected it to Nordliveien, Sørreisa. I had to type in Nordlivegen, Bardufoss, to be directed to where I had to go. Veien, vegen – two different ways of writing “road” but takes you somewhere else completely.
Even though the road sign specifically says “Nordliveien”, you cannot change all the road names in Norway to “veien” or “vegen”, because of our 2 ways of writing Norwegian. So I got in touch with Google to let them know about this massive issue. Some of the issues has been fixed, but I noticed that this is still around. I believe having both options would be beneficial for our country.
My passion lies in making Google Map a useful tool for everyone, connecting the community and making it much more fun for visitors and explorers.