google skeptic

Oops:

Yesterday Google announced that the “My Location” feature familiar to anyone who’s used Google Maps on a mobile device—the little blue button that shows you your position on a map—is now available to people accessing Google Maps from their laptop or desktop computers as well (as long as they’re using the latest versions of the Firefox or Chrome browsers). But there’s a problem: Users are reporting in large numbers today that the My Location feature is erratic, placing them in the wrong city and occasionally on the wrong continent.

[snip]

Google’s geolocation technology is similar in principle to Skyhook’s—it also depends largely on information about nearby Wi-Fi access points—but the accuracy of the locations actually produced by the new “My Location” feature seems to vary wildly, as users have been discovering over the last day and half. Judging from posts on Twitter, the Google system is placing some people thousands of miles away from their actual locations.

An unusual number of people, for example, report that the My Location feature shows them as being in downtown Austin, TX, even if they’re half a continent away. “Google Maps’ new ‘Show My Location’ feature puts me in the middle of Austin, TX. I’m actually downtown Manhattan,’ PhoneTag.com co-founder Mark Dillon tweeted today.

read the whole thing at The Browser Geolocation Wars: Skyhook’s CEO on Why Google Maps is Misreading Your Location | Xconomy.

You wake up in a strange city in a strange motel.  You have no idea how you got there, but thank god you have your wi-fi laptop with you.  Do you call the desk and ask where the hell you are?  Look out the window for a clue?  Of course not. You fire up Chrome and ask Google!

And for the next month or so, you’ll be seeing ads for that shitty pizzeria across the street.

More evidence that the true genius of Google is their knack for getting people to reveal the details of every moment of their lives (the better to target you with ads, my dear) without receiving any discernible benefit in return:

The blue circle comes to your desktop

Thursday, July 9, 2009 at 10:30 AM

If you’ve used Google Maps for mobile, you’ll be familiar with My Location. With single click of a button, your approximate location is shown on the map with a blue circle. Wouldn’t it be great if that same feature was available in Google Maps on your desktop or laptop computer?

Today we’re excited to announce exactly that, the launch of My Location for Google Maps.

When you visit Google Maps with a supported web browser, you’ll see a new My Location button in the top left corner of the map. Simply click the button to center the map to your approximate location. If your location can be determined accurately enough, it’s shown with a blue circle, just like on Google Maps for Mobile. Click the button again to remove the blue circle, or to re-center the map after you’ve moved it away.

My Location is a great way to start exploring the map around you, and perfect for working out where you are when you’re away from home. For example, if you’ve just arrived in an unfamiliar city, My Location is a handy way to view the map around you, even if you don’t know the street address. You can find things to do nearby or work out the best way to get where you need to go. Even when you’re somewhere familiar, My Location is a convenient way to open the map ‘on the right page’.

more kool-aid at Google LatLong: The blue circle comes to your desktop.