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Behind the "My Location" Errors In Google Maps

Posted by Soulskill on from the i-can-see-my-house-from-here dept.

waderoush writes "Ever since Google added the 'My Location' feature this week to the desktop and laptop versions of Google Maps, allowing Firefox and Chrome users to see their current location on a map, people have been reporting bizarre location errors — Manhattanites, for example, are being told by Google that they're in Austin, TX. Ted Morgan, the CEO of Boston-based location software provider Skyhook Wireless, talked about the problems in an interview Friday. Skyhook's Wi-Fi-based location-finding technology was passed over when Mozilla adopted Google's own location services toolkit for Firefox 3.5 in April; Morgan says that was unfortunate for Web app developers, because Google's 'crowdsourced' database of Wi-Fi access point locations is far less reliable than Skyhook's."

3 of 78 comments (clear)

  1. I hate this 'location-based' crap by 0123456 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    A while ago I was working in Italy: Google would then redirect me to Google in the Netherlands, and Facebook rather kindly switched automatically to displaying its pages in Dutch. Steam usually gets the location right, but won't then let me use my perfectly valid British credit card to buy games when I'm not in Britain.

    This is one of the most user-unfriendly ideas to infest the web over the last few years.

  2. Re:Can't find My Location by waderoush · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Dalroth: The new My Location feature only works when you're visiting Google Maps using Firefox 3.5+ or Google Chrome 2.0+ (or any browser equipped with Google Gears).

  3. I want to help make it better by Plug · · Score: 3, Insightful

    What is the link to the "Your guess at my location was wrong: I am actually at" page?