[wglb]

As noted by other comments here, this is quite a lightweight article. Not that the residents don't have a valid complaint, but the solution is really quite simple.

I have direct experience with something like this myself. My Grandfather homesteaded in Montana in 1911, and the land remains in the family to this day. My Aunt Elsie, who was a force to be reckoned with, had the name of the road changed successfully. So their address had the family name. I noticed that Google did not have the name, so i simply clicked on the button at the bottom that says "send feedback". I noted the post office had that as the name and one other reference. I got mail back months later refusing to change the notation. I sent the request again perhaps a year later, and this time they did change it. It is there today.

While I understand the communities distress, it appears from the story that nobody attempted to contact Google.

And you don't have to be a city official to do so.

[gumby]

The article even discusses this and I thing you're being unsympathetic.

It says a lot of people don't have the skills to figure out how to click through a multi-layer sequence (I never thought of that as a "skill" but I can see how it really might be one). Also as you said yourself Google doesn't always follow through on random comments. And in the end the root problem wasn't Google at all!

Plus it wasn't clear to the people if the city had been involved in changing the name? (Answer: not really).

And I think this is the kind of hyperlocal thing city councils are for.

[wglb]

Not sure what you mean by "multi-layer sequence", as it is a simple link at the bottom of the page "send feedback".

Even though the cause of the problem was not in Google's hands, given that they got the data from outside sources, nonetheless I would presume that they have the ability to correct errors.

[gumby]

I was going by what it says in the article: "while Google says it invites user feedback on its maps, it doesn’t always act on those suggestions. And even that process, which involves clicking through three levels of menus, precludes users with limited computer skills."

[jaclaz]

Maybe I am reading your post wrongly, but two attempts, with a 50% chance of going through over a year long time is "really quite simple"?

[wglb]

By simple, I mean one click to an easy-to-fill-out form.

I do agree that it does take attention span--but it sounds like the process or complaint. has gone on for a number of years already.

[jaclaz]

Yep, the procedure to present the complaint for a problem is simple, the solution (if any) to the problem not necessarily so.