How can a business tell that they’ve really “made it” in their industry? When they become a household name? When the name of the flagship product is used as an all-encompassing term for similar items (Kleenex, iPod)? It seems Google isn’t happy with achieving either of those milestones. Instead, they’re proving themselves by going full-on-Copperfield: they’re making entire towns disappear.
This is the curious case of Sunrise, Fl. Population: Almost 90,000, with a median age of 36 years. With that kind of demographic, you might expect that Sunrise’s population is pretty familiar with Google. Unfortunately, we can’t say the same for the inverse. You see, Google Maps has, on not one, but on three occasions, “lost” Sunrise. Any Google Maps search refuses to acknowledge the presence of the city. Instead, it directs users to Sarasota, Fl…which is on the other side of the state. You can get the lowdown – and search examples – over here.
When I heard this on the radio this morning, my first reaction was to smile and chuckle. Then I heard the story of a florist who was losing business because people were ordering from florists in Sarasota for deliveries in Sunrise, and then it dawned on me just how powerful Google has become. Although unintentional, their gaffe has rendered a whole city invisible. Had Bing of Yahoo! had the same issue, it wouldn’t be such big news, but because it’s Google – who’s name has become the de facto buzzword for searching on the Internet, and is the go-to way to find any and all information for many – this is some serious business (or a lack of business for those in Sunrise).
Google’s motto is (supposedly) “do no evil”, and we need to think that they’re still believers in this because we’ve become so dependent on their services: their search, their documents, their smartphones. Google now wants to get into your TV. With tendrils in so many facets of our lives, should Google ever decide to stop “doing no evil” and embrace their inner Palpatine, they could wreak some serious harm.
I’m not a “sky is falling” kind of guy; I just bought a Google smartphone and use their email service as my one and only, but I think that many people don’t realize just how dependent we have become on these always-on systems, and how we integrate them so deeply into our lives. The folks in Sunrise know this all too well, and are fighting with Google’s bureaucracy to get their town back on the map. Unfortunately at the time of this post, Google still has yet to restore Sunrise to it’s proper location. Hopefully it’s residents still receive their copies of the Yellow Pages.
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