JerseyDevil
04-17-2006, 12:47 PM
So how much can you rely in the web for information, even "well respected" companies such as Google? Well it seems not very well at all. Back in October I e-mailed Google about an error in their map of NJ. It took several months to get a response, but they acknowledged the error and said they would correct it, but it would not be immediate. Well this is five months later now and it still is not corrected.
So you may be wondering what this error is that managed to "creep" into their map application. Well it seems as if Google did not particularly like that the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island are in New Jersey waters. I mean, come on - every KNOWS that the Statue of Liberty is in New YORK right? I mean that's what New York keeps saying, thats what the media always says, everyone knows it right - so it must be true. Basically Google fudged with our border a bit, Hell are any of our politicians going to notice that when you look up Jersey City on http://maps.google.com that mysteriously our border CURVES AROUND Ellis Island and Liberty Island and that NJ has just lost part of our land? Hardly. Will the NJ media notice? Nope - why would they? Well do you think the New Jersey Ambassador from AboutNewJersey.com would notice - absolutely! :devil:
Here is the map in question....
http://www.aboutnewjersey.com/images/maps/googleMisepresentingNJ.jpg
This is the way it should be as is properly shown on MapQuest...
http://www.aboutnewjersey.com/images/regions/hudson/LSP/mapSml.gif
This was my e-mail to Google...
I have to laugh when I look at your map and border representation for NJ and NY. Why do you go AROUND the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island? That is NOT the border as much as you and New Yorkers would like it. BOTH the Statue of Liberty AND Ellis Island are in New JERSEY waters, not New York. If you want to be accurate, then you should reflect the border as it is, instead of taking it upon yourself to adjust New Jersey's border. Would an encyclodedia be very respected if they just changed facts because it didn't fit into their own opinions of what things should be?
Here is the link of the location in question...
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=jersey+city+nj&ll=40.697234,-74.023905&spn=0.031899,0.088225&t=h&hl=en
This was their response....
Thank you for bringing this to our attention. We apologize for our delayed
response. We understand your concern and appreciate your feedback
regarding the border represented between New York and New Jersey. We'll
use the information you provided about the Statue of Liberty and Ellis
Island being in New Jersey water to help improve the accuracy of the maps
on Google Local. Please note that we cannot guarantee that any corrections
will be made in the immediate future.
Regards,
The Google Team
After checking in March to see if it had been corrected I sent this e-mail...
Dear Google Team -
I am surprised that after three months that the NJ/NY border has not been corrected. I feel that enough time has gone by to see if this inaccuracy would be corrected. I could understand no "immediate action" being possible, but here we are three months later since your response below and roughly 6 months since my initial e-mail.
Contrary to Google, or many people's feelings, Liberty Island, which is home to the Statue of Liberty, and Ellis Island are BOTH within NJ waters NOT New York. The NJ/NY border does NOT wrap around the two islands as you indicate on the map. I would really be interested in knowing WHY the border was even drawn this way, when no cartographer has ever drawn our border in this fashion.
Thank you -
I have yet to hear from them. The next step is to send in editorials to the newspapers.
If you wish to write to google - send your e-mails to - local-help@google.com and specify the "NY/NJ border" I would also recommend including the link in the e-mail so that they know exactly what you are referring to.
I've had erroneous information corrected on maps before. For instance - teh New Jersey Gazateer, which is a very good detailed map - especially if you wish to take backroads throughout NJ, left out the ferry routes between Liberyt State Park and Ellis Island and Liberty Island. They of course indicated the ferry routes originating from Battery Park however. They also misrepresented the Liberty State Park with several roads missing and other mistakes in the area. They thanked me for the information and said in the next printing it would be corrected. When I got the new map, it was and I was very pleased that they accurately reflected NJ and the ferry routes.
So you may be wondering what this error is that managed to "creep" into their map application. Well it seems as if Google did not particularly like that the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island are in New Jersey waters. I mean, come on - every KNOWS that the Statue of Liberty is in New YORK right? I mean that's what New York keeps saying, thats what the media always says, everyone knows it right - so it must be true. Basically Google fudged with our border a bit, Hell are any of our politicians going to notice that when you look up Jersey City on http://maps.google.com that mysteriously our border CURVES AROUND Ellis Island and Liberty Island and that NJ has just lost part of our land? Hardly. Will the NJ media notice? Nope - why would they? Well do you think the New Jersey Ambassador from AboutNewJersey.com would notice - absolutely! :devil:
Here is the map in question....
http://www.aboutnewjersey.com/images/maps/googleMisepresentingNJ.jpg
This is the way it should be as is properly shown on MapQuest...
http://www.aboutnewjersey.com/images/regions/hudson/LSP/mapSml.gif
This was my e-mail to Google...
I have to laugh when I look at your map and border representation for NJ and NY. Why do you go AROUND the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island? That is NOT the border as much as you and New Yorkers would like it. BOTH the Statue of Liberty AND Ellis Island are in New JERSEY waters, not New York. If you want to be accurate, then you should reflect the border as it is, instead of taking it upon yourself to adjust New Jersey's border. Would an encyclodedia be very respected if they just changed facts because it didn't fit into their own opinions of what things should be?
Here is the link of the location in question...
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=jersey+city+nj&ll=40.697234,-74.023905&spn=0.031899,0.088225&t=h&hl=en
This was their response....
Thank you for bringing this to our attention. We apologize for our delayed
response. We understand your concern and appreciate your feedback
regarding the border represented between New York and New Jersey. We'll
use the information you provided about the Statue of Liberty and Ellis
Island being in New Jersey water to help improve the accuracy of the maps
on Google Local. Please note that we cannot guarantee that any corrections
will be made in the immediate future.
Regards,
The Google Team
After checking in March to see if it had been corrected I sent this e-mail...
Dear Google Team -
I am surprised that after three months that the NJ/NY border has not been corrected. I feel that enough time has gone by to see if this inaccuracy would be corrected. I could understand no "immediate action" being possible, but here we are three months later since your response below and roughly 6 months since my initial e-mail.
Contrary to Google, or many people's feelings, Liberty Island, which is home to the Statue of Liberty, and Ellis Island are BOTH within NJ waters NOT New York. The NJ/NY border does NOT wrap around the two islands as you indicate on the map. I would really be interested in knowing WHY the border was even drawn this way, when no cartographer has ever drawn our border in this fashion.
Thank you -
I have yet to hear from them. The next step is to send in editorials to the newspapers.
If you wish to write to google - send your e-mails to - local-help@google.com and specify the "NY/NJ border" I would also recommend including the link in the e-mail so that they know exactly what you are referring to.
I've had erroneous information corrected on maps before. For instance - teh New Jersey Gazateer, which is a very good detailed map - especially if you wish to take backroads throughout NJ, left out the ferry routes between Liberyt State Park and Ellis Island and Liberty Island. They of course indicated the ferry routes originating from Battery Park however. They also misrepresented the Liberty State Park with several roads missing and other mistakes in the area. They thanked me for the information and said in the next printing it would be corrected. When I got the new map, it was and I was very pleased that they accurately reflected NJ and the ferry routes.