Taking Google Map Matters Into Your Own Hands

Anyone that has gone hunting for an address on Google Maps knows that they tend to be a little off. By that, I mean that the markers often show up a few houses down, or across the street, or someplace else that isn't exactly where they should be. Granted, being off by less than one hundred feet isn't bad when we're talking about satellite images around the world, but it can be frustrating if you are the business that keeps having people sent across the street, or down the road. On the other hand, what do you do if you are moving your location and you need to make sure people can find you? Well, if you are Robert Sollis, you get a little creative.

Mr. Sollis wrote to Google earlier this year to explain that the Royal College of Art would be holding an event down the road in a nearby park and to ask if the Google Maps team could help him out by moving their marker for the event. He explained that new visitors would likely rely on Google Maps to get directions and hoped that Google would help them find the temporary location.

Now I highly doubt that Mr. Sollis honestly expected Google to change up their system to accommodate a week long festival, but he may have thought that they'd pitch in just for the fun of it. (More likely, he was simply setting the groundwork for some really good publicity and link bait.)

Sollis received the expected automated Google letter stating that they receive all mail but cannot reply to all mail.

So Sollis wrote back to let Google know that he was taking matters into his own hands.

Yes, that's what it looks like. Sollis made his own graphic marker from pieces of carpet, cut to size and appropriately pixellated so that when Google's satellite came by again, this marker would show up perfectly in a fully zoomed image of that location.

Of course Google doesn't exactly update their pictures every few seconds, so there's little chance of it showing up on Google Maps in time.

On the other hand, for someone with a bit of time on their hands that live in an area that is frequently updated...I smell some MASSIVE Google Maps pranking potential...