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Google Shuts Down Map Maker Following Hacks

Posted by samzenpus on from the shutting-it-down dept.

Errorcod3 writes: Google has temporarily shut down Map Maker while it works on a way to stop people from inserting pranks into its maps. A statement from Google explains that the service isn't going away, just shutting down while a new moderation system is worked on. "Given the current state of the system, we have come to the conclusion that it is not fair to any of our users to let them continue to spend time editing. Every edit you make is essentially going to a backlog that is growing very fast," Google's Pavithra Kanakarajan wrote. "We believe that it is more fair to only say that if we do not have the capacity to review edits at roughly the rate they come in, we have to take a pause. We have hence decided to temporarily disable editing across all countries starting Tuesday, May 12, 2015, till we have our moderation system back in action."

37 comments

  1. Huh"? by Lunix+Nutcase · · Score: 5, Insightful

    In what way was this a "hack"?

    1. Re:Huh"? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

      Today I learned that samzenpus's understanding of "hacking" is on par with a school computer lab attendant who thinks that changing the desktop wallpaper is "hacking."

    2. Re:Huh"? by ArcadeMan · · Score: 1

      Changing the desktop wallpaper is "hacking."

      It is if you're using Windows 7 Starter edition.

      Seriously, who's the idiot who came up with that lame idea?

      --
      Get free satoshi (Bitcoin) and Dogecoins
    3. Re:Huh"? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Some people apparently like being restricted. Some people even like paying a lot more for being restricted.

      Sadly, the idiot who came up with that idea is making a lot of money... Well, he did anyway.

    4. Re:Huh"? by sharkbiter · · Score: 1

      http://mashable.com/2015/05/11/google-map-maker-disable/

      It's a cool hack.

    5. Re:Huh"? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Should be "Google Shuts Down Map Maker Following Trolling"

  2. Because ... crowd source? by gstoddart · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Honestly, isn't this kind of an inherent thing with crowd sourced data?

    It seems kind of dumb to on the one hand think you'll get everyone to help populate your data for free, and on the other hand that you'll get perfectly valid data in all cases.

    Congratulations, you've opened up something as a free for all .. the anarchy, graffiti and pranks are an inherent part of that.

    WTF to corporations think, crowd sourced data would be magically free, lucrative, and error free? Because that would be stupid.

    I rank this as a big giant "no freakin' kidding". This is what happens when you expect the intertubes to make you a commercial product.

    --
    Lost at C:>. Found at C.
    1. Re:Because ... crowd source? by suutar · · Score: 5, Interesting

      I think the usual theory is that good data will overwhelm bad data. The problem is that assumes that the people entering bad data are outnumbered by folks willing to put in the effort to put in good data. Essentially, that those who will add good data for fun outnumber those who will add bad data for fun. Unfortunately that is frequently not true.

      TLDR: there are more assholes than hobbyist cartographers.

    2. Re:Because ... crowd source? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      I always suspected Australia wasn't real

    3. Re:Because ... crowd source? by smooth+wombat · · Score: 4, Funny

      Or, and I'm just spitballing here, people could be adults and not think they're being cool and edgy by putting a dick somewhere on a map. Personal responsibility and all that.

      This is why we can't have nice things.

      --
      We will bankrupt ourselves in the vain search for absolute security. -- Dwight D. Eisenhower
    4. Re:Because ... crowd source? by Jason+Levine · · Score: 3, Interesting

      It seems kind of dumb to on the one hand think you'll get everyone to help populate your data for free, and on the other hand that you'll get perfectly valid data in all cases.

      I consider this Rule #1 in any kind of development project: Never trust the user's input.

      It doesn't matter if you told the user to select 1 to 10 and gave them a drop down box to choose the appropriate number. Don't trust that only numbers from 1 to 10 will be coming to your application. Check to make sure that the input is indeed a number and not "1; Delete from Users". Make sure that the number is within your 1 - 10 integer boundaries and not -1, 13, or 3.14159265. Only once the input has been fully vetted/sanitized should it be used.

      Obviously, things get more complicated when you get up to Map Maker levels of complexity. You can't simply run IsNewDataValid(x). However, this is where you should have someone review the data for any obvious issues. It won't remove all abuses (people might sneak in graffiti using many small, innocuous-looking updates instead of one big one), but it can help stop major abuses. It also can slow down approvals of user data, but sometimes slow posting of data is preferable to letting everything through and then looking foolish when someone posts something inappropriate.

      --
      My sci-fi novel, Ghost Thief, is now available from Amazon.com.
    5. Re:Because ... crowd source? by gstoddart · · Score: 4, Insightful

      LOL, have you seen the internet before? Or people for that matter?

      Because, really, the aggregate behavior of the internet is only slightly less mature than an 11 year old with ADHD.

      For as long as there have been humans, if you have an open, anonymous forum, you will get this kind of stuff.

      The idiocy is pretending the world will magically behave to standards of being "adults" just because you think they should. In fact, that's bordering on irrational, because it's simply not founded in anything.

      If you want nice things, make 'em yourself .. don't rely on the fucking internet to do it for you. And sure as hell don't be surprised when someone puts in a penis joke.

      Humans are collectively base, puerile, childish, obscene, intelligent, contradictory, funny, stupid, smart ... and everything else you can imagine.

      Deal with it.

      I'm firmly of the opinion that any crowd sourced data both should and will have dick and fart jokes. Because it's funny, and it demonstrates that the idea of expecting humanity to conform to your standards of behavior is idiotic, and completely ignorant of reality.

      To most people the internet is a toy, a diversion, a source of amusement ... that Google wants us to write them a product they can use to sell more ads ... that's not our damned problem.

      The internet is one thing, and one thing only: a Steaming Heap of Innovative Technology, in the hands of a billion poo-flinging monkeys.

      Don't expect it to trend towards mature and erudite behavior. So far society hasn't done that on balance either.

      --
      Lost at C:>. Found at C.
    6. Re:Because ... crowd source? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There's no way to get children and arrested-development cases to act like adults. Your suggestion is useless.

    7. Re:Because ... crowd source? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      You're right; it's just southern Germany.

    8. Re:Because ... crowd source? by tlhIngan · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Or, and I'm just spitballing here, people could be adults and not think they're being cool and edgy by putting a dick somewhere on a map. Personal responsibility and all that.

      Most likely it's because of those well-publicized dick images on the map. And the famous Android-peeing-on-Apple image. And a few others out there.

      Quite likely what Google wanted was a way for its maps to stay updated, and what it ended up with was a virtual bathroom wall, with the exception that not only is it useless, it makes Google's map data even worse than useless if Google tries to rely on it for navigation or routing purposes.

      "Turn left onto Penis way, then right onto Vagina Road".

      Then there might be a concerted effort to "google-bomb" Google Maps and force a bunch of people down side streets that were reclassified as thoroughfares and all that.

      The funny thing is - OpenStreetMap doesn't seem to suffer from this problem, despite it crowdsourcing all the map data.

    9. Re:Because ... crowd source? by penguinoid · · Score: 1, Funny

      The problem is that assumes that the people entering bad data are outnumbered by folks willing to put in the effort to put in good data.

      It's too bad people are so eager to play pranks on such a nice, non-evil corporation like Google.

      --
      Don't waste your vote! Vote for whoever you want, unless you live in a swing state it won't matter anyways
    10. Re:Because ... crowd source? by lgw · · Score: 3

      Penny Arcade once expressed this well: the ability of user to mod, or contribute, to a game can be measured in "mean time to penis". With fully crowdsourced tools, MTTP is close to 0 (witness the current GNAA/Penisbird first post). With very minimal user ability to affect the product MTTP is high - but that just means the product is awkward to use, not that you have somehow discouraged juvinality.

      --
      Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.
    11. Re:Because ... crowd source? by swillden · · Score: 4, Insightful

      TLDR: there are more assholes than hobbyist cartographers.

      Actually, I don't think there are. Keep in mind that MapMaker isn't new; it's been open for years and working reasonably well. There's just been an uptick in usage (valid and vandalism) that has swamped the old moderation system. So, they need to improve the moderation system, then it'll be back on line.

      --
      Note to ACs: I usually delete AC replies without reading them. If you want to talk to me, log in.
    12. Re:Because ... crowd source? by fermion · · Score: 2

      This is what seemed to happen to a few other startups, you know the ones that had lists of bars and restaurants and the like, and then tracked attendance and such. The big problem with them was that many of the smaller venues were widely inaccurate, like to the point of putting a bar in someones house. This happened quite a bit in my old neighborhood and I would send in corrections. I think at one point I sent in about 10. Nothing ever happened to fix the problem. I guess they had to staff to make information accurate. The apps were for entertainment purposes, and now at least on these entertainment apps more. There was a time when I wished I treated google maps as entertainment only, and usually I take anything on it with a large grain of salt.

      --
      "She's a scientist and a lesbian. She's not going to let it slide." Orphan Black
    13. Re:Because ... crowd source? by mysidia · · Score: 5, Interesting

      TLDR: there are more assholes than hobbyist cartographers.

      Why not develop a test to detect hobbyist cartographers?

      They could start by requiring would-be submitters to prove their identity and use an Android device to visit the location to prove that they've physically been within the geographical neighborhood in the past 90 days, before they are able to submit edits to an area.

      Next they should have some process by which good editors earn rank, and new users' submissions get reviewed by the community --- of course, whoever reviews them has to be someone who's visited the physical vicinity of the addition / edit.

      If there has been a recent correction requested to the map; they can prompt other users of Google maps who map out a destination or approach an area, to please confirm if there is something wrong with the map.

    14. Re:Because ... crowd source? by CycloneGT · · Score: 1

      Where the Polar Bears come down from the Alps to eat the Penguins.

    15. Re:Because ... crowd source? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The Australians don't care, they will ignore your suspicions!

    16. Re:Because ... crowd source? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      WTF to corporations think, crowd sourced data would be magically free, lucrative, and error free?

      They're hoping you'll do a lot of the work for free while they take all the profit.

    17. Re:Because ... crowd source? by antifoidulus · · Score: 1

      I actually lived near a place called "Woodcock Drive" whose connecting roads all had female names, so you would say "Turn onto Woodcock then left on to Jennifer"....

      --
      Monstar L
    18. Re:Because ... crowd source? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I like how this is a "sudden problem".... I have submitted many fixes over the years to google maps using map maker (including moving a business to its correct location that was incorrectly marked as being at my house!) and not one of them has ever actually been incorporated into the maps.

      so meh

  3. They didn't review this... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    updates prior to making them live. Seems like a failing on Google's part to not put in a review system for all map updates. Its not a hack, they used the system as it was designed to make updates.

  4. Remember an XKCD, but can't find it now... by courteaudotbiz · · Score: 1

    Google's Pavithra Kanakarajan

    I mean, Carl...

  5. Starting May 12, 2015 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Ladies and Gentlemen, let the editing orgy of May 11th, 2015 commence!

  6. For the curious... by zawarski · · Score: 5, Informative

    ...a sample... http://gizmodo.com/google-maps...

    1. Re:For the curious... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      AWESOME!

  7. Victim of success by bigpat · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Wikipedia has gone through similar growing pains in the past which they dealt with successfully. Slashdot... Seems you just need to balance out the contributions with a couple levels of crowd sourced reviewers. Make people that are contributing to Google Maps review 5 map edits in the area for instance. It shouldn't be a big deal. I recall trying to get a local park listed on some maps in the days before Google Maps and Open Street Maps... it used to take years to get sorted out and relying on "official" maps just made the issues worse because nobody in city or state government gave a damn.

  8. Move to OpenStreetMap by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    I think it is time to move to OpenStreetMap. The information you submit is public domain and the editor is much better than Google Maps Maker.

  9. There's an App for That by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    https://itunes.apple.com/en/app/virtual-graffiti/id334564019?mt=8

  10. Map Maker Has Bigger Issues by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    For those who are legit users like myself, we edit things that we know about i.e. things in our neighbourhood or town. We also edit other things that are far-away like when a friend organises a meet-up near an old mill, but it's not on the map and you want to put it there for future reference. What all this means is that your MapMaker Profile (yes it is a profile of ALL editing activities and it is public), allows someone to find out where you live. Heaven forbid that you used your real photo and name when creating this MapMaker profile because now thanks to Google, you're totally vulnerable to online predators. Why should it be this way when you're giving Google Maps data that it previously didn't have? Why do they screw you over like that when you're helping them for free?