For a brief period earlier in the week, the White House listing in Maps was hijacked by a blackhat locksmith. The hijacking, consistent with previous mapjackings, was reported to me by the locksmith “deepthroat” that previously reported the Maps hijacking technique. It was quickly returned to its normal community editable condition by Google.
In related news, O’Reilly fan PanzerMike, has reported the Obama Whitehouse for Mapspamming for multiple listings at one address and keyword stuffing to achieve higher ranking in Maps. According to PanzerMike: “Its not fair that first every lawyer in LA but me can Map spam and now Democrats can too!”
Google had no comment to these reports.
Change (your Google Maps Listing), Yes we can!
Comment by Martijn Beijk (59 comments) — April 1, 2009 @ 8:04 am
Apparently they have no problem staffing for creating an April Fool’s Joke but lack on working with improving the Google maps system… sad…. not that I don’t enjoy the annual fun though.
Comment by Art (20 comments) — April 1, 2009 @ 10:40 am
Yes someone did spend some fair bit of time on the Introducing CADIE websites. Man, I wish I could get that front and center spot on Google search for my humor!
Mike
Comment by Mike (2500 comments) — April 1, 2009 @ 11:03 am
Strange but true…..I was searching for computer services in Olean, NY…..and called the phone number that showed up in a one-box for some firm called Blumenthals.
How do ya like it. A locksmith who is somehow affiliated with a wierd IYP answered the phone. Now every month I get billed by my local phone provider for $60/month…..$20/month for rekeying my locks/$10/month for hosting my site/$10/month for some kind of worthless ads running in an IYP in Zanzibar…..and the rest in taxes.
Comment by Earlpearl (784 comments) — April 1, 2009 @ 1:32 pm
BTW: when I complain about the above chicanery…..they connect me with Google’s customer service number 1-800 NOT HERE
Comment by Earlpearl (784 comments) — April 1, 2009 @ 1:33 pm
@Earl
As they say its the journey that’s so important not the destination. sounds like yours was adventurous!
Mike
Comment by Mike (2500 comments) — April 1, 2009 @ 1:40 pm
“I wish I could get that front and center spot on Google search for my humor!”
Mike, I think you’ve already made enough waves at Google with your humor recently.
This post cracked me up.
Comment by MiriamEllis (640 comments) — April 1, 2009 @ 2:26 pm
@Miriam
Ah yes, must have slipped my mind, Google doesn’t always “get” my humor. Forgot about that. I guess I am off the list for the front page. Dang
Mike
Comment by Mike (2500 comments) — April 1, 2009 @ 2:33 pm
Best April Fool’s post I’ve read BY FAR. Hilarious. Wish I hadn’t seen it a day late
Comment by David Mihm (168 comments) — April 2, 2009 @ 8:34 am
@David
Thanks for the affirmation.
I sometimes wonder about my sense of humor and whether it is too “subtle”. Apparently Barry Schwartz did not notice the date as he placed this report into the SearchCap: The Day In Search, April 1, 2009 Local Section rather than in the April Fool’s section.
Comment by Mike Blumenthal (2009 comments) — April 2, 2009 @ 8:46 am
I already wondered why there was no response on twitter
)
Comment by Martijn Beijk (59 comments) — April 3, 2009 @ 3:35 am
Well, they’re no fun!
Comment by Mike (2500 comments) — April 3, 2009 @ 6:21 am
I read that one can create an identical listing to the one of my business with a different telephone number, and once activated, can change everything else. I believe this is what happened to us:
- what can I do to very quickly fix this to the correct details?
- also, can I stop them from doing it again?
Thanks
Comment by Dan (28 comments) — April 18, 2009 @ 9:57 am
In theory, this is no longer possible. Google apparently put in place safeguards around the middle, later part of February to prevent this in the future. There is little that you can do to quickly correct this other than contact Google. Hopefully once it is fixed it will not happen again.
Comment by Mike (2500 comments) — April 18, 2009 @ 5:29 pm
[...] Google Maps: Whitehouse Listing most recent Hijack Victim April 1, 2009, blumenthals.com [...]
Pingback by South Pier Inn & Filthy Hotel Hijacking Map Spam » aimClear Search Marketing Blog — April 21, 2009 @ 10:45 am
[...] humorous was the frequency of hijacked business listings which even reached as high as the LBC entry for the White House. Google seems to have largely taken care of this issue system-wide as [...]
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