Where is the bad Maps data coming from?

[Fausty82]

I guess if anyone wants to figure out the root of the issue, yes, it does matter. The app clearly can't be trusted for even basic POI lookup. It's not my job to question and report every POI I come across. That's Apples job. Why should all the info suddenly be untrustworthy? I don't always know the info is wrong, so how can I correct it?

Report the error. THAT's how you correct it. Or just keep whining about it. SMH.

 

[Yankees368#IM]

Report the error. THAT's how you correct it. Or just keep whining about it. SMH.

You can't report an error if you don't know it's an error, or don't know the correct info. Not very difficult to understand.

 

[Fausty82]

You can't report an error if you don't know it's an error, or don't know the correct info. Not very difficult to understand.

If you don't know it's an error what the *#(% are you complaining about? If you go there and it ain't there, it's a problem. Report it.

You report the error by clicking on the POI and then clicking on the button that says "Report a Problem". Clearly NOT rocket science. Even a Yankees fan should be able to push a button.

 

[Yankees368#IM]

Wow, like talking to a rock. Let me try again.
If I am not from around an area, or just don't know any better, I obviously won't know the data is incorrect, so I can't correct it.
If the location is off, but I don't know where the correct location is, I can't report it.

 

[Roo Zilla]

My point is that these are data points that aren't incorrect anywhere else. Data points of popular places, which for reasons I can't figure out., have 2 layers of incorrect information.
Google had issues when they started out because the service was really a first of its kind. This is not.
I guess I'll just have to accept the method of "just keep using incorrect directions until they aren't incorrect sometime in the future."
I didn't need to be a cartographer with Google Maps on iOS before, I shouldn't have to be one now.

Actually, there's a lot worse out there, like popular landmarks in the middle of a lake and such. As I said, things will get straightened out, but it'll take time. Not a day or two, but not years either. Google really wasn't the first of it's kind, Mapquest and Yahoo both had their own mapping projects. What happened was that Google went all out with their effort, and at that time, Google's popularity was rising fast, so it attracted a lot of users willing to correct their maps. The addition of Streetview cemented Google's status as the premier mapping company.

Now, bad maps are not singular to Apple. In a few of my previous posts, I mention that I'm in China at the moment. Here, it's the reverse. Google maps are terrible with almost no POI detail, and a LOT of incorrect POI. Apple maps are much more detailed and actually much more accurate. It's almost as if Google stopped updating it's China maps 3-4 years ago. The new Apple map lists a Pizza Hut near me that opened about 6 months ago. A new McDonald's opened down the block, I'm curious when that will show up on the map.

 

[Fausty82]

Wow, like talking to a rock. Let me try again.
If I am not from around an area, or just don't know any better, I obviously won't know the data is incorrect, so I can't correct it.
If the location is off, but I don't know where the correct location is, I can't report it.

Sure you can. You don't have to report the "it's really 3 blocks down the street" info to report an error. If the POI ain't there, that's all you gotta say. And, yeah, I get the "talking to rocks" thing... shees...

 

[sting7k]

Ok, so I am trying to understand where the faulty maps data is coming. I know that POI data is pulled from sources like Yelp and Open Table, but that info isn't making its way to Maps.
I happened to search for a local restaurant yesterday, and I found that the location was off by miles, not even in the correct town!
I checked Yelp, and they had the correct address and town, as did Open Table.
So, where in the world is Apple getting an address with the wrong town entered in? Is it coming from TomTom? Nope, using TomTom's web route planner, it shows in the correct town.
So where in the world is iOS maps pulling this incorrect data from? I just don't get it.

Multiple sources but Apple is the one ultimately compiling it all so the errors are on them.

 

[Roo Zilla]

Wow, like talking to a rock. Let me try again.
If I am not from around an area, or just don't know any better, I obviously won't know the data is incorrect, so I can't correct it.
If the location is off, but I don't know where the correct location is, I can't report it.

What you're basically saying is that since the POI you're checking for is incorrect, you find it difficult to trust the map to be correct in regards to other POI. Well, that's just how it is going to be until it gets better. When will it get better? Nobody knows, not even Apple, but hopefully soon.

Crowd sourcing works, and it works well and it works fast. It's one of the major reasons companies like Google and Walmart are so successful. With hundreds of millions of iOS users, as long as Apple puts in their work on the back end, Apple maps should improve dramatically in a short amount of time. This isn't 7 years ago when Google started doing it's heavy maps work, now there's a lot more data coming in at a much faster rate.

 

[Jaguarr40]

The data clearly is untrustworthy.. If the info is correct literally everywhere else BUT here, how can I trust any of the data? And yes, I did submit a correction, as well as for many other POIs.
My point is that this data isn't incorrect anywhere other that iOS maps. I would like to know where the poor data is coming from, so maybe users don't have to be responsible for Apples poor data, and have it fixed in bulk.

I have to candidly say that what KCH is saying has alot of merit to it. There are many apps including Google that have their faults so I have to agree that if you are not going to be part of the solution, You are only part of the problem and that won't solve anything to assist Apple. Also they even dedicated a section in the App Store for alternative maps to use until they resolve the issue, Use them and stop crying about it.

You're declaring the entire app worthless based on how many data points? I've found Google to have bad data points in POIs... therefore Google's Maps & Search are totally worthless in whole. How can I trust any of Google's data after finding errors? I applied your logic.... smh.

Very well put KCH and as I stated above to the OP as you said, Be a part of the solution and not part of the problem.

 

[Jaguarr40]

Multiple sources but Apple is the one ultimately compiling it all so the errors are on them.

We all get it that it is on Apple. An open letter on Apples web site from Tom Cook the CEO admits to it's failures so NOW as an entire base of people using iPhones and IOS devices let's report when we find something wrong short ans sweet and in short order Apple and it's companies helping to supply data will fix it. Nothing hard about this. Thanks for the post.

 

[kch50428]

The bottom line on where data is coming from for the App can be found by hitting the page curl in the lower corner of the app, and then tap "Data from" - there you will see where the data you see in the Maps App comes from. Any one, several, or all could be the root of bad data on a POI. The thing to do when you encounter an error is report it via the "Report a Problem" link that's right there under the page curl.