A Google Maps Help thread has a guy named Mike, who is getting married in July, who is in need of Google's help. He is afraid no one will show up to his wedding and his bride will be devastated. Why? Because of a typo on the invitation that has the wrong address. So he asked Google to see if they can auto-correct the address when someone Google's it.
How cute is that?
Mike said:
Please have pity in my poor information-using soul. I am getting married to a beautiful young school teacher in July, and today I was informed that there is a typo on my invitation! That typo "42 Chesterfield Road, Keene, NH" entered into the Maps search field returns a location that is not even in Keene NH! Including the zip code in the query makes it "42 Chesterfield Road, Keene, 03431". This search query puts you much closer to Stonewall Farm, a picturesque community farm where our event will support educational outreach on farming - the bedrock technology of civilization. We are taking steps to notify people of the typo, but I fear that by Your Benevolent Guidance, Google Maps, they may seek truth incorrectly and be led astray.Oh Please Google Gods! Please make the query "42 Chesterfield Road, Keene, NH" return a location closer to to where I need people to go.
I just love finding these gems in the forums. Of course, Google really can't do much and what is to stop people from using Bing Maps, Mapquest or their navigation system. That being said, Googler Dave said:
We hear you, but I'm not sure if I can help as it seems like Google Maps is operating as expected in this example. When people search for an incorrect address, we try to resolve inconsistencies as best we can. In this example of searching for [42 Chesterfield Road, Keene, NH], there doesn't seem to be such an address in existence in Keene. So we search outside of Keene, since it is not uncommon for people to search for addresses that are actually outside the city limits of the city they think it's in. Adding the zip code tells us "no, I really do think this address is in Keene" but even in that case we just give an approximate location since we don't think the address exists in that zip code. Searching for the correct address, [242 Chesterfield Road, Keene, NH] does find the right place, as does searching for [stonewall farm, NH].Sorry not to be of more help, but it's really hard to make an incorrect address go to a certain place...
In any event, Mike - congrats on your wedding and I am sure you will be able to inform your guests of the typo.
Forum discussion at Google Maps Help.
