Maps are very important to our business here at Ublip, but we are not in the business of producing them. Neither are our direct map providers like Google, at least they are not in the business of producing the databases that actually drive the maps. Almost every map engine on the web is driven by data from either Navteq or TeleAtlas. Creating and maintaining these databases is a massive undertaking, so I don’t want to disparage these companies for sometimes getting things wrong, but they do fairly frequently get things at least a little wrong. Particularly when it comes to geocoding street addresses. Neither of the last two addresses where I have lived were in the database accurately, although my current address is only within about half a block.

When I come across errors like that, I always think that there should be a way that these companies could let their customers help them find and fix the problems. That is, of course, easier said than done. However, I have recently become aware that a small move in this direction has been made. Both Navteq and TeleAtlas do have web-forms that allow users to report errors. It is a fairly manual process, but they will notify you when the error has been fixed. Here are links to the forms:

http://mapfeedback.teleatlas.com

http://mapreporter.navteq.com

There is a project in the works that takes this approach much further. Open Street Maps is a free user editable map of the world. It is not yet good enough for our business, but there was a time when people laughed at the idea that Wikipedia could ever be as accurate as Britannica. We will definitely keep an eye on them.