Google is inviting Canadians to improve the Google Maps for their local area
They have released a new tool called Map Maker, that allows you to add roads, rivers, trails and points of interest or correct information that is wrong or outdated.
“Google’s objective here is to create an accurate atlas of the world and the reality is that Google’s not big enough to do this (alone),” said Google Canada spokesman Aaron Brindle. “When it comes to our assumptions around who actually is in possession of the most relevant information to any user, I think it’s hubris to assume Google alone can do it without the help of the community of our users. “It’s a model that’s worked with Wikipedia and a model that’s worked astoundingly well when it comes to the maps (elsewhere in the world) that are already online.”
Any changes will be reviewed by Google before going live, however if you provide accurate updates the first few times then your updates could get automatically approved in the future. You can also review, edit, approve or deny changes made by other editors. You can even subscribe to your area of town, or your part of the country.
I see this feature as especially useful for people living in rural or out of the way places that have features or services that would be helpful to drivers passing through, or could be a way for small tourism areas to promote their business or service.
What do you think? Would you help Google update their maps?
