I just want to report that someone incorrectly (maliciously?) placed a restaurant marker on our house. There are certainly no restaurants on our property and they are absolutely not allowed in the private neighborhood in which we live.
I tried to remove it at least twice, but my edits are getting rejected (no reason for rejection as per usual). I would share links here, but that would be revealing very sensitive information. So instead, I would appreciate it if anyone with the power to help can do so. @FelipePK , I’m not sure if this is in your area, but you’re the only responsive person here that I know. I hope you can help.
P.S. This is not an isolated case of random incorrect or non-existent markers appearing in places I’m very familiar with. I really wish Google would recognize that I am a trustworthy expert mapper in my area. The map is getting frustratingly bad.
I am sorry to read about your predicament and understand that you wish this listing to be removed ASAP.
Since most Googlers active as moderators on this community forum would need to open a job ticket towards a responsible Geo Team at Google and since those Googlers mostly work on weekdays, you may be faster in getting the desired response by asking a Product Expert on the Google Maps community forum to open the ticket for you.
I am not sure how they deal with sensitive data, but perhaps @ShafiulB who is a Local Guide that also volunteers there may give us an answer on that.
Hi @AnjoC thank you for reaching out. What @JeroenM has mentioned could be a solution, but you can also correct this problem by using the suggest an edit tool to move the marker of that restaurent to the correct location, only if you know where it was before.
To help you find where it was before, you can use the photos appearing there especially the store front photo to predict the origin of the restaurent. Thank you.
I appreciate your willingness to help. Unfortunately, the marker does not have photos because it’s a newly-added place. I did local research and no information about this supposed restaurant exists. This gives me the idea that the place doesn’t really exist and that the entry may be spammy.
Have you reached out yet to the Experts on the Google Maps Community Forum?
Please note that when you address someone, that it is important to use the @ALIAS system. Without it, @Raphael-Mahumane is not made aware that you are talking to him.
Hi @JeroenM thank you for mentioning me, I could not have noticed that. @AnjoC in this condition you can suggest an edit to remove this location as it shows that it does not exist at all due to its incorrect placement, and there is nothing else as proof that it belongs somewhere were you can trace it and relocate it.
I have removed locations before which has been added in the middle of a high way where there are no businesses, this sound like the same condition to me.
I am pleased you got the response we were after on the forum @AnjoC . I would still like to know how fast the issue is actually resolve. So, please keep me posted by tagging me.
Thanks for reaching out. Sorry for my late reply, I was on vacation. Could you please provide us the link of the place in question so we can take a look?
As @FelipePK kindly mentioned, I just wanted to add that in case there would be any reporting of similar case (in need of privacy), please make sure to check as instructed via private message.
Hi @JeroenM , it’s been a year and I just wanted to share an update as you’ve requested.
My post on the Google Maps Help Community got a response within the same day with instructions to wait for a member of the community to reach out so I can provide the details in private. However, this did not happen and the listing remained on our location.
Realizing how this wasn’t going anywhere, I later made the less ideal choice of claiming ownership of the listing and changing it to my business. It’s no longer listed as a restaurant now, which is somewhat of a relief. Instead, it’s a listing for my digital business. I understand that this is not ideal, but it’s at least better than having people think there’s a Korean restaurant in our house.
Thank you for the update @AnjoC and for completing the story.
I am sorry that the outcome was not as hoped. We all take desperate measures sometimes, so I understand why you did what you did.
In case your business is not eligible to be on the map, I suggest you as the “owner” can still remove it without harming your business.