{"id":1569,"date":"2008-11-20T06:00:16","date_gmt":"2008-11-20T10:00:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blumenthals.com\/blog\/?p=1569"},"modified":"2008-11-20T16:01:44","modified_gmt":"2008-11-20T20:01:44","slug":"microsoft-azure-googles-plusbox-is-in-the-clouds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blumenthals.com\/blog\/2008\/11\/20\/microsoft-azure-googles-plusbox-is-in-the-clouds\/","title":{"rendered":"Microsoft Azure catches Google’s PlusBox Blues"},"content":{"rendered":"

Microsoft Azure<\/a>, Microsoft’s cloud computing initiative, is at the moment vaporware, more ideas and flows charts than a product. Perhaps the reason for its yet unfinished status is that the office is but a corner table at a cafe in Freeport, ME<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Or at least according to the Google PlusBox, that is the case. When you \u00a0search for Microsoft Azure<\/a>\u00a0on Google, the PlusBox for the Microsoft Azure Website takes you to the Azure Cafe<\/a>, near the L.L. Bean store. It may be terrible for Microsoft’s productivity but it is great for morale and lunch breaks are a snap!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Reader\u00a0Maarten Oosterink caught this example of Google’s mistake in their PlusBox assignments and pointed it out to me. As I told Maarten, the PlusBox is a weird beast\u00a0algorithmically. It predates the Local Business Center and relies on signals from across the web that Google uses to assign it to a search result, often times erroneously. This is great example of exactly how weird and error prone can at times be.<\/p>\n

Fixing a erroneous PlusBox is no simple matter<\/a> as Google offers no formal mechanism for correcting their mistaken assignment.<\/p>\n

Correctly entering your business in the Local Business Center has no impact. Some businesses have had success chasing the problem down by locating the erroneous web references<\/a> across the internet and some have had success getting a Maps Guide in one of Google Groups<\/a> to remove it.\u00a0<\/p>\n

For those of you that have a predilection for punishment here are some of my previous posts on on the pains of PlusBox purgatory:<\/p>\n

\u2022\u00a0How to change your Business Address in the Internet Age<\/a>
\n\u2022\u00a05 Simple Steps to fix the plus box<\/a>\u00a0(yea right)
\n\u2022\u00a0Google Plus Box – Where does the (wrong) data come from?<\/a>
\n\u2022\u00a0Google and the PlusBox Blues<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Microsoft Azure, Microsoft’s cloud computing initiative, is at the moment vaporware, more ideas and flows charts than a product. Perhaps the reason for its yet unfinished status is that the office is but a corner table at a cafe in Freeport, ME. Or at least according to the Google PlusBox, that is the case. When …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":262,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1569","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-google-maps-google-local"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t