Google Maps Hackers Sinking Businesses to the Bottom of the Sea

They say 9 in 10 restaurants fail in their first year – but whoever said that said it before the Internet.

Today’s restauranteurs face a new dilemma even more off-putting than finding a fingernail in your chili: Google Maps Hacks. Restaurants and businesses across Google’s digital globe are falling victim to misinformation attacks, in which competing companies hijack Google Maps’ open source environment to construct malevolent forms of Internet arson.

“Oh, so they’re selling more sandwiches than us? Let’s see what happens when we change their location to Antarctica and their hours to Monday-Tuesday, 6-6:30 AM.”  It might sound a bit half-baked, but in a world without phone books, Internet listings are the marketing lifeblood of many a local mom-and-pop. When they are sabotaged – such as may have been the case for Rene Bertagna of Virginia’s Serbian Crown eatery – Google Maps hacking can lead to financial ruin. Catch the original coverage in this interesting readable from Wired.