# Google Maps has jumped the shark. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 7, 2011, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-maps-has-jumped-the-shark/605325 "2011-12-07T00:31:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![YoDoc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/e68b1a/32.png) [@YoDoc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YoDoc)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2011, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-maps-has-jumped-the-shark/605325/41 "2011-12-07T16:16:16Z")
> [@Cheshire\_Human](#): > > To find out how far I’ve been walking every time I walk there. I punched in my lat/lon, then hit goto and punched in the name of the place. It then zoomed down and showed me the route. In the opposite direction, and the wrong distance. I then zoomed out a bit, and found many of the businesses in the area, which had always been in the right place before, were now “relocated”. Fair enough. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2011, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-maps-has-jumped-the-shark/605325/42 "2011-12-07T16:18:43Z")
Goggle Maps transposes Carnivorousplant Road with Carnivorousplant Drive when searching for my humble abode. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2011, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-maps-has-jumped-the-shark/605325/43 "2011-12-07T16:28:33Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > Requesting clarification re whether Google jumped the shark vs. screwed the pooch. > > Awaiting your response. It must surely have jumped the pooch. The alternative doesn’t bear thinking about. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2011, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-maps-has-jumped-the-shark/605325/44 "2011-12-07T16:58:47Z")
And tool that allows you to do [this](http://maps.google.com/maps?q=WILDCAT+MOUNTAIN,+New+Hampshire+16,+NH&hl=en&ll=44.249137,-71.225403&spn=0.00152,0.002411&sll=39.279507,-106.542792&sspn=0.026144,0.038581&vpsrc=6&hq=WILDCAT+MOUNTAIN,+New+Hampshire+16,&hnear=New+Hampshire&t=h&z=19&layer=c&cbll=44.249137,-71.225403&panoid=ywAnWtAQFcBX42snGG8Vtw&cbp=12,284.92,,0,0.7) hasn’t jumped the shark. This is mondo cool. ---
**Author:** ![Lobohan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobohan/32/79_2.png) [@Lobohan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobohan)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2011, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-maps-has-jumped-the-shark/605325/45 "2011-12-07T17:31:48Z")
You know you can move the marker yourself, right? If you click on the flag you there is a \*more \*option with a dropdown that has _Move marker_ as an option. ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2011, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-maps-has-jumped-the-shark/605325/46 "2011-12-07T17:38:42Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > And tool that allows you to do [this](http://maps.google.com/maps?q=WILDCAT+MOUNTAIN,+New+Hampshire+16,+NH&hl=en&ll=44.249137,-71.225403&spn=0.00152,0.002411&sll=39.279507,-106.542792&sspn=0.026144,0.038581&vpsrc=6&hq=WILDCAT+MOUNTAIN,+New+Hampshire+16,&hnear=New+Hampshire&t=h&z=19&layer=c&cbll=44.249137,-71.225403&panoid=ywAnWtAQFcBX42snGG8Vtw&cbp=12,284.92,,0,0.7) hasn’t jumped the shark. This is mondo cool. Yeah, I’m really tempted to call the whaaaaambulance for the OP. I mean, how freaking spoiled have we gotten? ---
**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2011, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-maps-has-jumped-the-shark/605325/47 "2011-12-07T17:47:33Z")
> [@jjimm](#): > > Here’s my gripe: I am in, say, London. It is a mapping program, and when I search for, say “New Delhi” I am clearly looking for the capital of India. I do _not_ want every curry house with the name “Delhi” in it within a five-mile radius of my current position. I acknowledge that they want to make money of business listings, but consistently returning the wrong results is as bad as keyword spamming and will surely generate no extra new business for Google. I disagree completely. If I was searching around in London it’s much more likely I want to see Indian restaurants around the block than I want to search a completely different city on another continent. If I wanted a different city, I’d have zoomed out and done the search. Personally, I hate it when I’m in a city-focused view and my search term springs the map 500 miles away. Why would I want to know that? Now I’ve got to waste time getting back to the original city and try another term. ---
**Author:** ![kidchameleon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/898d66/32.png) [@kidchameleon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kidchameleon)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2011, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-maps-has-jumped-the-shark/605325/48 "2011-12-07T18:48:33Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > Goggle Maps transposes Carnivorousplant Road with Carnivorousplant Drive when searching for my humble abode. It’s a trap! ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2011, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-maps-has-jumped-the-shark/605325/49 "2011-12-07T18:59:36Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > And to think they have the nerve to charge us for this abomination! This. If you buy something and it doesn’t meet your expectations, I understand some frustration. When it comes to you absolutely and fully free of charge, you can simply stop using it and return to your previous happy existence. ---
**Author:** ![AnalogSignal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/analogsignal/32/1085_2.png) [@AnalogSignal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AnalogSignal)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2011, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-maps-has-jumped-the-shark/605325/50 "2011-12-07T19:56:24Z")
> [@Cheshire\_Human](#): > > I punch in the lat/lon my gps gives me, and Google maps shows those businesses to the east, when I know they are west, and can fucking show you that is true. I remember reading something about GPS positions available to civilians being inaccurate, perhaps intentionally inaccurate for security reasons. I hazily recall the military having more accurate GPS positions for missiles and drones. I’m too busy at work now to find cites. ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Onimous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ea5d25/32.png) [@Ann\_Onimous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Onimous)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2011, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-maps-has-jumped-the-shark/605325/51 "2011-12-07T19:59:48Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > Try rotating your monitor. I was thinking Ctrl-Alt-Arrow Key. ---
**Author:** ![galen\_ubal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/galen_ubal/32/4440_2.png) [@galen\_ubal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/galen_ubal)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2011, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-maps-has-jumped-the-shark/605325/52 "2011-12-07T20:14:42Z")
Ya know, it’d be funny if it were a faulty GPS thingo giving him the wrong latitude/longitude… 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2011, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-maps-has-jumped-the-shark/605325/53 "2011-12-07T20:41:05Z")
> [@AnalogSignal](#): > > I remember reading something about GPS positions available to civilians being inaccurate, perhaps intentionally inaccurate for security reasons. I hazily recall the military having more accurate GPS positions for missiles and drones. I’m too busy at work now to find cites. That hasn’t been true for a while now. The military turned off the obfuscation for us civilians. ---
**Author:** ![JoelUpchurch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f05b48/32.png) [@JoelUpchurch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoelUpchurch)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2011, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-maps-has-jumped-the-shark/605325/54 "2011-12-07T20:45:02Z")
> [@Una\_Persson](#): > > Recently I was looking for a new house and during the process of looking up directions for 40 or 50 homes to tour, I found that about 1/10 times Google Maps completely and utterly failed to find the house. As in, wasn’t within 2 or 3 miles, even when I gave it the 9-digit extended ZIP code. I found it was a bit alarming that it could be so wrong. I think the key word here is **new**. I find it takes a year or two for new streets to show up on google. YMMV, but I find the most up to map are at the county supervisor of elections. I could find my street on their map for over a year before it showed up on any other. What is interesting was that they built a new section in my subdivision and I could see the new streets on the google plat map overlay for a long time before google knew the name of the streets. I pointed it to google and they acknowledged it and they fixed it. From what I’ve seen, the address of each house isn’t stored, just the starting and ending for that section of the street and the individual addresses are interpolated. It sounds to me like the starting and ending addresses for your street are reversed in the database. ---
**Author:** ![Dave\_Hartwick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7feea3/32.png) [@Dave\_Hartwick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dave_Hartwick)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2011, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-maps-has-jumped-the-shark/605325/55 "2011-12-07T21:13:00Z")
> [@jtgain](#): > > This. If you buy something and it doesn’t meet your expectations, I understand some frustration. > > When it comes to you absolutely and fully free of charge, you can simply stop using it and return to your previous happy existence. Sometimes you don’t have a lot of choice. I don’t directly pay for the roads and sidewalks near my home but if they’re in bad condition I’ll grumble. Another comparison is how people complain about tools provided by their employers. I’ve heard a lot of piss & moan about Excel 07 and 10. “Hey! You got that for FREE, loser! No complaining! You don’t like the ribbon, ya big baby? You can just go back to pen and paper, ha ha ha!” Even if the OP’s complaint is completely without merit I learned that it’s possible to calculate walking distance using online maps, which is of interest to me. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2011, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-maps-has-jumped-the-shark/605325/56 "2011-12-07T21:20:54Z")
> [@galen\_ubal](#): > > Ya know, it’d be funny if it were a faulty GPS thingo giving him the wrong latitude/longitude… 😃 Or that perhaps Google is relatively right, but only off on the coordinates. OP, have you tried entering your actual address instead of using coordinates? Keep all the locating on a single service. The only problem I’ve ever had with Maps is them telling me that a building is on the opposite side of the street. And I’m sure that’s based on how our numbering system in the main part of town isn’t consistent. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2011, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-maps-has-jumped-the-shark/605325/57 "2011-12-07T21:55:39Z")
When I wanted to go to a K-Mart it directed me instead to a house behind the K-Mart on a side street. It is possible it was making a statement or trying to protect me. There is a way of sending in corrections. When I was in my old office I kept on getting calls for central HR and central Purchasing from people who weren’t salesmen and actually were looking for someone, and who thought I was the central switchboard. I started asking how they got my number, and they said Google. But searches didn’t reveal it. Finally someone confessed it was from Google Maps, and sure enough my number was associated with our building. The correction never went through, but I moved and the problem went away. ---
**Author:** ![bucketybuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/898d66/32.png) [@bucketybuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bucketybuck)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2011, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-maps-has-jumped-the-shark/605325/58 "2011-12-07T22:02:53Z")
> [@Dave\_Hartwick](#): > > Even if the OP’s complaint is completely without merit He is bitching because he can’t use his free service to find out how far he walked when he walked to the store. I don’t know about merit, but it truly is a first world problem. > [@Cheshire\_Human](#): > > To find out how far I’ve been walking every time I walk there. ---
**Author:** ![Cheshire\_Human](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Cheshire\_Human](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheshire_Human)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2011, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-maps-has-jumped-the-shark/605325/59 "2011-12-08T00:16:17Z")
> [@Rigamarole](#): > > Yeah, I’m really tempted to call the whaaaaambulance for the OP. I mean, how freaking spoiled have we gotten? Spoiled enough to expect that it will work the same way it did last week? Do they have to change it every fucking week to include new capabilities, when doing so breaks last week’s functionality? All I’m asking is that they don’t break old functionality when they introduce new. Can’t we just all get along? ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2011, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-maps-has-jumped-the-shark/605325/60 "2011-12-08T00:20:24Z")
> [@JoelUpchurch](#): > > From what I’ve seen, the address of each house isn’t stored, just the starting and ending for that section of the street and the individual addresses are interpolated. It sounds to me like the starting and ending addresses for your street are reversed in the database. The addresses in some areas are stored. In my area, valid addresses will show up in the middle of the plat lines that you mentioned. Invalid addresses will be points on the street. (Sometimes it’s finicky, though. If it has alternate names for a road, it might only give you the actual property if you use a particular form. “12345 Any Road” might get you the road while “12345 County Road 85” gets you the property itself.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-maps-has-jumped-the-shark/605325.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-maps-has-jumped-the-shark/605325.md?page=4)