If A City Disappears From Google Maps, Does It Still Exist? [GoogleMaps]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/5650034/if-a-city-disappears-from-google-maps-does-it-still-exist

That's the question that Sunrise, Florida had to ask itself because the city didn't exist on Google Maps for nearly a month. Whenever anyone searched for Sunrise, FL they were re-directed to Sarasota, FL, a city that's 200 miles away.

Shockingly, this is the 3rd time that Sunrise, FL has disappeared from Google Maps. For a small, unknown city like Sunrise, that's no good. The local businesses in Sunrise, FL have felt the aftereffects of not being searchable on Google saying that business was down during the month because quite simply, no one could find them. If you searched for a plumber in Sunrise, none existed. If you searched for a florist, you'd be directed to drive 200 miles to Sarasota.

It's an odd problem that, though fixed now, speaks to our heavy reliance on the Google. What's the first thing that people do to find local shops these days? Google 'em. How do we get there? Google will tell us. And it's so easy! I'm just as guilty, I blindly follow whatever it is that the G tells me to do. I mean, I'm certainly not leafing through yellow pages and thomas guides to figure it out, that takes time.

So as funny (and scary) as it may sound, if you (as in your city, business, store, etc.) don't exist on Google, you pretty much don't exist to the general population. [BBC]