Google's refusal to change an error in Google Maps sends hundreds of tourists to the wrong location
Google Maps has over one billion monthly active users. We know that many of these users rely on the app every single day. Globally, Google Maps ranks as the third most downloaded Google app after YouTube and YouTube Kids. For a navigation app to reach that level of success, it would have had to prove itself as a reliable source of directions day in, day out. And the Android and iOS versions of Google Maps have certainly come a long way.
The original iPhone did not feature GPS so Google Maps used cell-site triangulation to determine the location of the user. By the time Android 2.0 debuted on the Motorola DROID in November 2009, turn-by-turn directions were a free feature for Android users. When Apple Maps replaced Google Maps on iOS in December 2012, Google Maps with free turn-by-turn directions was available for free from the App Store. Since then, Google has turned Maps into the Swiss Army Knife of navigation apps by adding features that do more than just get you from point "A" to point "B" quickly and safely.
For example, when you get to point "B" Google Maps will tell you where you should stay the night, enjoy a meal, find entertainment and landmarks, grab a coffee, and more. But again, the popularity of the app all depends on how accurately it will take you to your destination. While Google Maps has a good record, occasionally it has taken users out of the way or even the wrong way. This has happened again as hundreds of tourists in India relying on Google Maps to get them to the Kollur Mookambika Temple ended up 60 miles away.
Using Google Maps to get to Kollur Mookambika Temple in India is getting people lost. | Image credit-Mangaluru Taxi
Apparently this is an issue that has led drivers to accidentally arrive at a village called Nandalike instead of pulling up to the Temple. But it appears that more and more Google Maps users are ending up in the remote village. The issue is caused by a simple error that Google can easily fix but for some reason, it hasn't. The app is labeling a smaller temple dedicated to Goddess Mookambikain in Nandalike as Kollur Mookambika Temple and is sending drivers there by mistake.
You can see that the names of the two temples are similar enough to be confusing but this shouldn't be such a hard problem to take care of. To show you how one mistake in Google Maps can have a large impact, one Nadalike resident said that "hundreds of vehicles" arrived in the village over the last three months and stated that Google needs to correct this problem. Even while using Google Maps, drivers heading to the Kollur Mookambika Temple need to watch the road signs to make sure they are heading in the right direction.
"We traveled from Hyderabad towards Udupi, following Google Maps, only to end up in Nandalike. It’s especially problematic when this happens late at night. This confusion has caused us considerable inconvenience."-Chandan, a tourist using Google Maps
"For the past three months, hundreds of vehicles have been misdirected to Nandalike. The entry in the map needs to be corrected to alleviate the difficulties faced by tourists," said a local resident living in Nandalike. Even though several tourists have reported the problem to Google, the incorrect labeling of the smaller temple has not been fixed and continues to this day.
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