Anyone else notice Google Maps is now putting home businesses on maps?

[pete6032]

I find this makes maps very difficult to read. If you search around in residential areas you will now start to see home businesses like insurance brokers, photographers, small consultants, etc. If you look at the business on street view it's very clearly someone's house. Google must be pulling business data from somewhere that has home businesses listed. Anyone else noticed this recently?

Most of the businesses listed here are just peoples' houses.

Google Maps

Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps.

www.google.com

 

[mindless1]

It's not recent, for a few years there has been a home business a few doors away from my residence on the map, and then I found a guy to weld something by searching "welders near me" and it was within walking distance, if not for property boundaries.

Google doesn't have to pull business data, you can self-tag things, like I did the Cheez Shed.

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forums.anandtech.com

Unfortunately my tag for Cheez Shed seems to have gone away, maybe it has to be renewed or have reviews or some other parameter to stick long term.

Edit: No, my Cheez Shed tag is still there, but it's no longer showing up in the same search hits it used to:

39°45'47.4"N 86°11'01.6"W · 39.763167, -86.183778

www.google.com

Maybe it's just more noticeable due to Covid causing more people to work from home and do the tags?

 

[nakedfrog]

Yeah, I noticed this a few years back as well, the house kitty corner from me at that time did tax prep stuff, so I was a little confused when it started showing up as a business on Google Maps.

 

[pmv]

Yeah, don't know if it's new, but I've also only just noticed this. All sorts of odd small businesses apparently registered round here. One nearby neighbourhood seems to be _infested_ with psychotherapists! And there's a "sailing club" apparently quite close to me, despite a hundred miles away from the nearest large body of water.

 

[deadlyapp]

Google scrapes lots of public data in order to come up with businesses, and then can pin it to your google account, so you'll get offers to claim your business on google maps. I assume that many people have done this for better visibility of their businesses when they are purely "cloud" businesses without a physical front; but it does clutter things up.

I've seen it for quite a few years at least.

 

[Lost_in_the_HTTP]

As noted above, I think they're self entered.

 

[pete6032]

As noted above, I think they're self entered.

I doubt it. I don't think most people want their home address listed and shown on Google maps for their small business.

 

[Lost_in_the_HTTP]

Sure they do. Helps people find their home massage parlors since CL and some others killed personals of a certain nature.

 

[Captante]

Pretty sure you can turn this off in settings... too lazy to look at the moment sorry.

 

[MtnMan]

This is not new, I've seen home based businesses on Google Maps for at least 2 years.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Makes me wonder... about all of those home miners... who set things up as a "home business", just so they could write off their mining expenses to offset taxes... how many of them are going to want their home addresses blasted all over the internet via Google. If nothing else, it might encourage thieves.

 

[pete6032]

Pretty sure you can turn this off in settings... too lazy to look at the moment sorry.

I don't see it. Anyone else know?

 

[pete6032]

Yeah, I noticed this a few years back as well, the house kitty corner from me at that time did tax prep stuff, so I was a little confused when it started showing up as a business on Google Maps.

Kitty corner? Are you sure you didn't mean kittywumpus?

 

[mindless1]

I doubt it. I don't think most people want their home address listed and shown on Google maps for their small business.

They do if that business is operating from that location and you need customers to come to you, or in worst case, even if you handle everything via email/phone, you still have to provide an address and if you don't have a physical office/storefront, better to be honest than make up fiction. I mean I'd trust a home address more than just PO Box...

 

[nakedfrog]

Kitty corner? Are you sure you didn't mean kittywumpus?

Do you mean cattywumpus?

 

[lxskllr]

Catercorner
Catawampus

 

[Lost_in_the_HTTP]

I ain't whumpin' no kitties.

 

[pete6032]

Do you mean cattywumpus?

I think I meant catty corner but I'm not sure.

 

[mindless1]

I don't see it. Anyone else know?

I think you can turn ALL labels off, but not just businesses in residential areas.

To do that, get on a maps page, hover your mouse over the layers panel (bottom left corner, often shows changing between map and satellite view, click "more" then uncheckmark "labels". Labels may be grayed out but you should still be able to un-checkmark it.