User edits on Google Maps temporarily disabled

Last month, we told you how a trip to N 33°30'52.5", E 73°03'33.2" on Google Maps would take you to an image of the Android logo answering nature's call on the Apple logo. Even though you've probably seen a similar image on the back of a pick-up truck, in this case someone lacking in maturity just had to use Google Map Maker to express his view in a vulgar fashion.

Over at the Google Product Forums, Googler Pavithra Kanakarajan wrote that the company has shuttered auto-approval and user moderation globally for Map Maker until a better mousetrap can be built. And by mousetrap, we mean a better way to make sure that something like this prank cannot be repeated again.

With the auto-approval and user moderation shut down, a nasty backlog has developed as edits are going through a manual approval process. With those huge backlogs, Google has decided that starting today, it has disabled editing across all countries. Kanakarajan says that putting a new system in place is going to take more than a few days, and Google hopes to have this resolved as soon as possible.


source: GoogleProductForums via BGR