A Wellington businessman says he is outraged after his art gallery was wrongly listed as "permanently closed" on Google Maps.
Bryce Moller, director of Shona Moller Gallery, says the move may have lost him business and he has contacted police.
Businesses can create profiles on Google Places – a Google Maps feature similar to an online Yellow Pages. Web browsers can report that businesses have shut down, and a "reportedly closed" notification appears on the business profile.
After a review by Google, a "permanently closed" label will appear on the profile.
Moller said he had checked the business's profile and was astounded to see it was listed as permanently closed.
He had no idea who was responsible but had logged a problem with Google, which had corrected the profile, and he had written to police to ask them to investigate.
"What a horrible thing to do, and right in the middle of the Rugby World Cup. How long has it been like that? Maybe it's been like that for the last two months."
Business at the gallery – opposite Te Papa – had been "really good" in the past six weeks, Moller said.
"Whoever did it, the joke's on them. But things could have been even better."
Google spokeswoman Kate Mason referred The Dominion Post to a blog by a senior product manager at the search giant. The blog said Google was aware the Google Places editing features were being abused, and it was working to improve the service.
Google said if it received a report about a business being permanently closed, it would no longer post a notification to that effect on the business's profile.
- BusinessDay.co.nz
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