A UK SEO

I’ve blogged about problems with Google maps with see tickets spamming. This morning I found another strange result on a map search for “Blackpool Pleasure Beach”, next to Blackpool Pleasure beach is Lightwater Valley, which isn’t in Blackpool.

How do that get there? Easy.

Click on more information on the map pop up and under the user content section there is a custom map by Srab. Remember you can make a custom map on anything and position anything anywhere.

Go to his map and you’ll see that he’s put Lightwater Valley in Blackpool, it’s actually near to Ripon in Yorkshire.

Nothing major but it’s a little dangerous for Google to be using custom map data in a product people use to get directions from A to B.

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I’ve recently started working in Manchester City center so been looking at Google maps for local places to eat at dinner. As ever, the first place to look is Google Maps. After a few clicks on locations strangely See Tickets, a ticket sales company seems to have claimed a lot of local listings that have nothing to do with them, thus having a link to their site.

Each one links to seetickets.com

Looking at the locations is it possible that See Tickets could sell ticket for the Palace Theatre, but not for 5th Ave a nightclub or Retro Bar.

A search for “see tickets” with the map in Manchester brings up some great results:

Piccadilly Gardens (Bus stop and open space)

The old ODEON on Oxford road which shut down about five years ago.

The big wheel in the Triangle

and Long Legs a gentlemen’s club.

All of the links go to http://www.seetickets.com/see/index.asp? and it looks like see tickets haven’t stopped there, they’ve done the same for locations in London too!

You can imagine tourists trying to buy a ticket from See Tickets to go to Parliament for the day!

Anyone else getting this for their location? Go to your local area on Google maps and search “see tickets”

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I had the pleasure of seeing the Google Street View car today driving up to Manchester today through Poynton today. I was out getting lunch as the Opel car drove past I’m guessing taking pictures as it went along.

If you’ve not seen Street View from Google before then check some of the views out. The basic concept is that the Google car drives down the street, taking photos and then the photos are stitched together to create a panoramic image.

As the car went past on the corner of London Road and Queensway I started to wave an pull faces from my car, we’ll have to see if the moment was captured by the Google Car when the maps are released in the next few months

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