Fact-checking failures and falsehoods

[OStr]

Not to darken the mood on this day of celebrating the new point system, but this issue has been on my mind for a while.

Perhaps I've been spoiled by years of editing Wikipedia, where content accuracy debates are resolved by open discussion until a consensus is reached. I'm not sure what the algorithm is on GMaps, but I've heard many here complain of obvious corrections getting a "NOT APPLIED".

I'm talking about the human fact verification step, the one you typically get a few weeks after the suggested edit, not the instant rejection you get from the bot. Sometimes a second attempt will get your change approved instantly, sometimes not. The latest one I've run into is the opening hours for the Metro supermarket at Shops at Don Mills. Like most Metro stores, this one is open 24 hours a day. The linked website clearly shows this fact, as does the big sign at the front, clearly visible from the posted pictures. And yet, any attempt to fix this is eventually rejected with a "NOT APPLIED".

The information on the POI currently shows the store as being open from "12PM to 12AM", which Google correctly interprets as from noon to midnight. I have yet to hear of any supermarket that only opens at noon, so I'm guessing some misguided contributor thought "12PM to 12AM" meant around the clock. While most locals know the store is open 24 hours a day, that fact that Gmaps--and Google searches--show it as "Closed" if you check before noon may send people looking for other stores, wasting time and gas.

I tried to enter the fix four times now. Who keeps rejecting it?  Is it the same contributor who entered the original incorrect hours, and now feels obliged to defend his mistake? Wikipedia has a "Talk" page attached to every entry, where such issues can be openly discussed. If there was a way to do the same on GMaps, perhaps much of this strife would be avoided, and facts could be verified quicker, involving more contributors when needed.

Maybe the easiest way to do this is by adding a link on each POI to a thread here on Local Guides Connect where facts can be discussed openly, and disagreements and misunderstandings cleared up, with moderator assistance when needed. The new software needed to implement this should be minimal, I would think.

[Flash · Accepted solution]

Hello,

I had to search to find the Metro Store, please remember that this is a worldwide forum and as such you should always provide links directly to the features as people attempting to help you may not be from your area.

You are always welcome to post when you're unsure why a particular edit is having issues.

In this case the location has been claimed by the owners via Google My Business.  Chains normally are bulk claimed, which means the head office will make all the claims by uploading a spreadsheet with the location data.  They then re-upload a modified sheet whenever there is a change to a location.  Whether this is claimed by the local manager or bulk claimed by the head office (or both), with almost certainty I can say that the issue will be that the claimant has put the wrong hours on the spreadsheet in the row for this location.  Because the information is being provided by the owner it is given more weight and thus it keeps appearing on the map.  The business itself needs to fix this issue, probably just by fixing it via GMB or if needed by them calling GMB support (GMB support is for GMB users only).  If you wish to go that far, you may or may not have success by informing the store of the needed actions.

Thank you for your devotion towards getting things right on the map.

[OStr]

Thank you, @Flash!  I tried using the Add a Location feature here to point to the POI, but it seems I didn't do it correctly. I see the location displayed correctly on the map window on the right side here. Doesn't it show up for you?

I didn't know about the GMB bulk claim feature. If it's their own fault, I doubt I'll pursue this any further.

Thanks again!

[OStr]

Interestingly, I was able to correct the opening hours for this Metro store, also in Toronto. Neither store is new, so I doubt either is missing from that spreadsheet.

Perhaps there's more to this story than we suspect.

[Briggs]

I'm all for some temporary mood-darkeners.

But I'm completely on the ball with this. Accuracy in an open-source database that is Google Maps is so easily compromised it could only go so far. And with all these checking algorithms and really strange rejections of legitimate edits, I would really like to see what goes on behind the scenes.

For example:

• There was this fruit and nut shop at my local Westfield, with the address having a suburb about 120km away. Changing it to the shop address and legal position of the shopping centre, the edit was not applied two months later.
• I'm not sure how changing the category of "Max Brenner Chocolate Bar" from Restaurant to Chocolate Cafe was immediately not applied.
• Or adding hours to a place that wasn't even present in the first place immediately not applied either, as the information was taken from its accompanying website.

I do appreciate the platform in which Google Maps is set upon but having legitimate edits automatically not applied or simple data fill-ins is like completing your thesis and handing it in only for the professor to be not in the mood while marking your work and therefore imprinting an eternal bad impression on you.

[Sanjam1]

I wish we could make corrections to our own edits. That would be a good feature. 

[OStr]

Agree, @Briggs, although I try not to take snubs by bots personally... But yes, it'll be nice to have a better understanding of the algorithms involved.

There were a few cases where an edit came back after two months as "NOT APPLIED", and when I tried the same edit again, it was instantly approved. In other cases, moving a marker 50 metres was rejected, but marking the POI as "Permanently closed" or "Never existed" went through with no problem. Name changes usually take a while to be approved, but removing the place altogether is usually instantaneous, especially if there are no pictures and reviews for it, and it hasn't been claimed by anyone.

Place creation is also a mystery. Most go through quickly, but if you try to add this place (you can see their signs from the street!), it's instantly rejected, as if the POI is already there, or maybe on some blacklist.

[OStr]

@Sanjam1, I often thought the same thing, but this could be a bit dangerous. An unscrupulous business owner could create the correct entry for a local competitor, and once the POI accumulated many reviews and pictures--move the location or change the name to match his own business and ride their reputation.

I would say we should be allowed to correct our own edits until someone else edits the same POI, at which point our previous edits are considered "committed", and changing them should be like changing someone else's edit.

[sputnikjim]

Here is the Contact Us link on the Metro corporate website:

http://corpo.metro.ca/en/ontario-contact.html

You could point out the error in the hours for the Don Mills location and ask that they submit the change to Google My Business to correct the error in Maps.

[OStr]

Thanks, @sputnikjim!  I just sent them a note. I'll let you know if I hear back.