Comments on: Google Maps and Hospital Hell Soon Coming to an End? Three Cheers!

By: Mike

Mike — Fri, 07 May 2010 18:22:25 +0000

The program was rolled out and is available to all....the instructions are here. I understand it can take 2-3 months for bulk upload listings to be verified and it is absolutely best if you use an email address at the domain for which you are requesting verification.

By: John

John — Fri, 07 May 2010 18:12:53 +0000

Mike,
Is there any info on the Whitelist beta program? Is this still happening? Any idea how one gets into the beta?

Thanks for any insights.

By: Year In Review: Local Search & Maps

Year In Review: Local Search & Maps — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 12:03:15 +0000

[...] accuracy, but is that job "good enough?" Perhaps not when it comes to police departments, hospitals, or other emergency services, whose Authoritative OneBox results all came under increased scrutiny [...]

By: SMN

SMN — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 11:18:18 +0000

Nice and impressive news the suggestion of your in Google proactively contacts hospitals to inform them of this method assuming it works is an excellent suggestion.

By: Mike

Mike — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 02:37:57 +0000

@Miriam
Certainly better than a fish and a potentially great idea but as you point out without educating hospitals as to its existence its utilization will be low and if they don’t staff it delays could be long…the devil is in the details and in this case, knowing how Google treats Maps, we can only wait and hope that it gets done correctly.

@Kyle
It isn’t just the nature of Google it is the nature of the society that we have created around us…

By: Kyle James

Kyle James — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 01:26:58 +0000

This is bottom line scary… The thought that Google could have control over people’s lives like this and the fact that something so critical having to jump through hoops to get it fixed. As much as we all love Google it’s just scary to think that they keep acquiring more and more power over our daily lives.

In this case it’s good to see that they are doing something about this and quickly, but wow we really have become very reliant on Google. Someone trying to contact an emergency room and at Google’s mercy. hum…

By: MiriamEllis

MiriamEllis — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 22:12:04 +0000

Really delighted to see this very serious issue getting some attention. Obviously, there’s a hurdle here of someone in each hospital knowing about the LBC and the steps needed to upload a bulk listing, but we’re getting closer to a solution. Good news!

By: SearchCap: The Day In Search, September 18, 2009

SearchCap: The Day In Search, September 18, 2009 — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 21:08:45 +0000

[...] Google Maps and Hospital Hell Soon Coming to an End? Three Cheers!, Mike Blumenthal [...]

By: Mike Blumenthal

Mike Blumenthal — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 20:03:00 +0000

@Jim

You have nailed the complexity of the problem. This is obviously a first step but it is one that gives the hospital control over their current listings which is an important first step.

By: Jim Gianoglio

Jim Gianoglio — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 19:27:24 +0000

It’s good to see Google taking these steps – but I’m not holding my breath. Verifying the listings is just one issue (albeit a huge one).

What about all the duplicate listing issues and problems with merging records that shouldn’t be merged (and not merging records that should)? This is especially tricky for hospitals, which not only have a main address and listing, but listings for each practice area, department, and physician as well. Trying to figure out which listings are the same (and should be merged) is a very complicated task – and I don’t envy those working on this.

It seems that introducing one more source of listing info (the bulk uploads) – even if they’re verified, still doesn’t solve the problem of correctly merging all records involved.

Case in point: I’ve been working with a Hospital in my area that recently moved (to a brand new facility clear across town). We spent months verifying as many of their listings in the LBC (and elsewhere) by phone and post card. There are still many listings that we were unable to claim/verify that continue to show in the 10 pack and in G-Maps, with incorrect information.

Again, kudos to Google for working on this – it’s a very difficult problem.