Online discussions led to the "N-word" linking to the White House on Google Maps
Inappropriate responses to offensive searches are being removed from Google Maps
It has been a rather difficult month for Google Maps. A few weeks ago, an image of the Android mascot answering nature's call on an Apple was found at coordinates N 33°30'52.5", E 73°03'33.2". Google said that the image came from user submitted edits and put a halt to them earlier this month.
"Our ranking systems are designed to return results that match a person’s query. For Maps, this means using content about businesses and other public places from across the web. But this week, we heard about a failure in our system—loud and clear. Certain offensive search terms were triggering unexpected maps results, typically because people had used the offensive term in online discussions of the place. This surfaced inappropriate results that users likely weren’t looking for."-Jen Fitzpatrick, VP, Engineering & Product Management, Google
Google plans on updating its ranking system using an algorithmic change. This will rollout slowly on a global basis, and will prevent users from seeing inappropriate and offensive words link to a particular location on Google Maps.
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Things that are NOT allowed: