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Sphinn Home » Vertical Search
Why Wikipedia Accuracy Won’t Cut It For Google Local
Vertical Search News Source: http://www.searchengineguide.com
Published: Nov 18, 2008 - 05:14 pm
Story Found By: MiriamEllis 1181 Days ago
Category: Vertical Search
Mike Blumenthal, Danny Sullivan, Matt McGee, Dana Lookadoo and myself are all sending the same message about Local to Google. Here’s the question for you: Do you think of Google’s Local applications as wikis? Probably not, but Google does. This article explores why this approach is so problematic.
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from dannysullivan 1181 Days ago #
Votes: 2

This is an awesome commentary, especially this:"Maps’ Guide Jen explained to me that Google couldn’t possibly be responsible for contacting all the hospitals in the country to make sure the data Google displays about them is correct. I have to ask, if Google can’t do this, how can they expect anyone else to?"Google just got done putting up correct voter registration and polling place info which was nice but hardly a case of life and death, as with hospitals. So yeah, they should do more for hospitals.

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from yetanotherben 1181 Days ago #
Votes: 0

A lot needs doing for local search moving forward - governments need to be sharing their databases or something regarding public sector services I feel...

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from JohnHGohde 1181 Days ago #
Votes: 0

Between the yellow pages, which people are supposedly chucking, "911," and "411:"  I really don’t see what the problem is.I know where the hospitals are in my locality.  I could simply drive to anyone of them.  Not to mention the latest satellite global positioning technology available for those concerned about such things.  Newcomers would be advised to figure these things out for themselves upon arrival.And, again most communities do have 911 available for medical emergencies.Perhaps, Google ... Oops ... the Internet is NOT ready for prime time, yet?

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from MiriamEllis 1181 Days ago #
Votes: 0

Thank you, Danny. I’m honored by your commendation.

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from elbandelero 1180 Days ago #
Votes: 0

Google has an overwhelming dominance in search, and I think if their customers are going to use the services they provide for business lookup or emergency lookup, then they do have a responsibility to ensure this information is accurate. After all, Google chose to develop maps, and it was Google that added many of the listings such as hospitals or doctors, and if they go down this path they need to accept that some people will trust the published results, great news for a paperless society, and great news for Google, not great news when the info is inaccurate!

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from JohnHGohde 1180 Days ago #
Votes: 0

What ever happen to User Beware!The Internet is NOT ready for prime time, yet.Gee, I could see Google applying for Federal grants to use tax payer moneys to make the Internet safe for surfing idiots.

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from TravelGirl 1179 Days ago #
Votes: 0

yetanotherben - in the US, different branches of the same government generally don’t have the ability to share databases so it’s unlikely the government would be a good source of useful data such as where the local hospitals / police stations are.This is a monumental task and I agree that if Google is going to make money from local it’s their responsibility to clean up the results. In the meantime, don’t be too hasty to throw away the yellow pages or better yet invest in a GPS.

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