How did Google Maps brand JNU as Antinational?

on Monday 28 March 2016
Google Map is showing Jawaharlal Nehru University if you search "anti-national" or "sedition ". For a company like Google, this is a major problem. Suddenly it has found itself in middle of the loaded -- and viciously political -- debate about JNU and some of its students. And it is a debate that Google would like to avoid. So how did it happen? Why one of the most used products of the company has suddenly gone wonky and is branding JNU with certain words?



The Map Maker, a Google tool, that gives people ability to edit map information and supply additional information seems like the obvious culprit. It looked like someone made some JNU related edits in Map Maker so that Google deems it "anti-national". After all, in the past we have seen Google Map vandalism through Map Maker. Remember the Android logo pissing on Apple logo? That was done through Map Maker.

But in this case, Map Maker is not at fault. The problem this time seems to be the Google Maps algorithm and how Google uses data from all of its services to improve what it can offer to consumers. The problem in this case is with the keywords that Google deems important.

Google is a company that utilises the user data in a big big way to power its services. Almost all Google services, from Google search to spam filters in Gmail, use the data generated by users to improve services. In the case of Google Maps, the company apparently sees a lot of keywords, even outside Google, and apply them to various installations in Google Maps to give richer information to users.

This has seemingly happened in the case of JNU, which is being described by many people as "anti-national". For example, in the reviews for JNU on Google Maps there are tens of spam entries describing JNU as anti-national.

Although Google has officially not commented on how and why "anti-national" keyword is pointing towards JNU, some information has trickled out. A senior Google executive aware of the JNU issues told IndiaToday.In that it is definitely connected to keywords.

"This is a bug. Google Maps results take signals from many points on the web -- including top news outlets. The terms "Anti National and "Kanhiya Kumar" and JNU have been in the news so much recently that they became associated in Maps which is why this is triggering. This is a bug and we're working to fix this as quickly as possible," said the executive.

The fact the issue is not due to the Map Maker edit but because of keywords also gets confirmed by the time Google is taking to fix it. It is possible that to fix the issue, Google may have to change the way it processes "signals" in Google Maps, and tweak algorithm. That will not only require some serious work but also several approvals from the company headquarters in Mountain View. So for now, it seems JNU will continue to be "anti-national" on Google Maps, at least for another several hours or even a few days.

Source : India Today

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