How can I get Google Maps attention?

[pb4uski]

I'm looking for advice on an oddball thing.

Back in 2005 we bought a house that was at the end of a dead end private road that I'll call Lois Lane. Technically, Lois Lane ends at our property line about 35' in front of our garage and there was a 35' driveway from the end of Lois Lane into the garage... but from looking at it you wouldn't necessarily know where Lois Lane ended and where our driveway begins. Each homeowner along Lois Lane has a deeded easement across neighboring properties to use the road so being the last house on the road we have deeded easements to cross all neighboring properties.

The property we bought also had frontage on a class 3 public gravel road I'll call Clark Road but there was no access when we bought it... just a field and some trees between the garage and Clark Road.

A few years later we ended up putting in a driveway from Clark Road to our garage and as a result we now rarely use Lois Lane though we still have the right to do so since we have easements. After we put in the driveway we would occasionally have vehicles drive down Lois Lane and then continue up our private driveway to Clark Road. To reduce those intrusions we added "Private Driveway, Do Not Enter" signs to each side of the driveway near our garage... hoping that people would see the sign and turn around and go out the way they came in... some do and some don't. And to be clear, these are not neighbors... they are very respectful and just use Lois Lane. I suspect it is just people out for a Sunday drive looking around who either don't see the sign or see it and don't bother to turn around.

A few years ago we noticed the Google Maps car come down Lois Lane and it just continued up our driveway to Clark Road. Now in the Google Maps car driver's defense, I was doing some work in my garage and moved my truck out of the garage and parked it in our driveway in a spot that partially obscured the "Private Driveway, Do Not Enter" sign.

Then last summer a septic truck was coming down our driveway from Clark Road and my wife stopped the driver and asked him why he was coming down our private driveway. The driver responded that he was just following directions to get to one of our neighbors on Google Maps.

We checked it out and sure enough, Google Maps shows Lois Lane as connuing up our private driveway to Clark Road rather than dead ending at our property line. All the other map services... Waze, mapquest, Rand McNally, and OpenStreet... properly show Lois Lane as ending at our property line.

Last July I reported the error to Google Maps on three different occasions and got the obligatory email thanking me for my suggestion. In January 2021, I snailed mailed a letter to the CEO of Alphabet asking him to relay it to the appropriate people at Google Maps for correction... and I included printed pages from the other map services showing where Lois lane ends. Needless to say, nothing has happened.

I'm not sure how else to proceed to get Google Maps to correct their map to reduce the intrusions that we get. I'm considering filing a lawsuit for injunctive relief against Google to just try to get their attention. Any thoughts?

 

[NgineER]

We had a bridge added in our community and it took a couple of weeks for it to be added to the routing instructions. In the meantime the local news site/paper asked people to report the error on google maps.

You might have to report the error to all different navigation software providers and leverage your neighbors to al report it.

If that is not sufficient maybe you’ll have to leverage a larger network of people to resolve the problem.

 

[teetee]

Perhaps you can put up steel fence around your driveway? Google prioritizes the error correction requests based on the number of feedback / complaints. Instead of you doing the work that gets no where, have the drivers report to google.

Sad to say but people trust navi more than road signs these days. It is the way it is.

 

[pb4uski]

Today, all three... Lois Lane, Clark Road and our driveway are all gravel or staymat. We are considering having our driveway paved for other reasons and a by-product of paving the driveway is that the different surface would differentiate it from the two roads. Additionally, I'm considering bigger and clearer signage.

 

[Bigdawg]

Pain in the arse but I think a gate would be the answer. I know. Not ideal but I would not/could not put up with people driving up my driveway.

 

[The Cosmic Avenger]

How did you try to update it? Did you go to the small print by the copyright and click "Send feedback"? Did you include links to a plat or something else that might be persuasive? I assume they get a fair amount of fake updates from trolls, as I don't really understand their review process that well. I update Google Maps a lot, and I do know that they crowdsource the review of updates, which can be good and bad, and they give "points" for accepted updates, so I wonder if they tend to give less weight to updates from people who haven't submitted any before. If you'd like me to try submitting it, PM me.

Otherwise, two other more immediate choices would be a driveway alarm or sensor, and/or put posts on either side of the end of your driveway and put a chain across it with a reflective sign. My in-laws have a very similar situation, and they've done both, although I don't think they used the chain that much until my MIL was widowed, or before that, when they traveled.

 

[pb4uski]

I'm hesitant to put in a gate or barrier because it would be inconvenient for us to open and close the gate when we come and go. BIL has something like that at the entrance to his farm to keep the animals in and it is a PITA. We also have family and friends nearby that visit regularly and they would have to do the same.

 

[braumeister]

How about using Waze to report the issue since they seem to have a pretty robust reporting feature? Since they are owned by Google it could be faster. Ask your friends and neighbors to report it that way as well.

 

[donheff]

If enough time goes by with the route marked on Google Maps and people coming thru could you lose the right to it? That's what would worry me.

 

[folivier]

Solar powered gate openers are not that expensive, they are convenient and can keep outsiders out. They can be operated by remote clickers, the homelink in your car, a phone app, and a keypad. That could be a good option but would cost you a couple thousand $.

 

[pb4uski]

If enough time goes by with the route marked on Google Maps and people coming thru could you lose the right to it? That's what would worry me.

No, I don't think so.

 

[pb4uski]

How about using Waze to report the issue since they seem to have a pretty robust reporting feature? Since they are owned by Google it could be faster. Ask your friends and neighbors to report it that way as well.

Waze has it right!

 

[Mr._Graybeard]

We had a similar situation when we built an addition onto our house, which also stands at the end of a dead-end road that had some history as an easement. For some reason, county records had the road extending well past our property line, which made zoning planners wary about construction so close to a public road. We eventually got a zoning official out to measure the official length of the road, which officially ended at our property line despite prior records to the contrary.

Perhaps if the county record showed the road ending at your property line rather than your garage, the possibility of transit through your property eventually would end as Google maps caught up with official county property records. It might take awhile.

 

[Cobra9777]

If it was me, I'd set up 10 throw-away Google accounts and have each of the 10 accounts (plus your own) report the error every day for a couple weeks. That's the best way to get their attention... numbers. Make sure each report is exactly the same thing (i.e. click the map in exactly the same spot and specify the exact same problem).

BTW, I assume you are using Edit the map > Wrong information > etc.

 

[pb4uski]

Yes, in Maps I'm using Send Feedback, Wrong Information, Edit the Map, Fix Road Info, Drawn Incorrectly and in the Add further details box I wrote:

Lois Lane ends at our property line. The portion of Lois Lane from Clark Road to the pond (~300') is our PRIVATE DRIVEWAY. Please refer to Waze, MapQuest and other service that show the end of Lois Lane correctly.

What you show as Lois Ln from Clark Rd to the n in Lois Ln (~300') is our PRIVATE DRIVEWAY and should not be shown on any of your maps. Waze and MapQuest show Lois Ln correctly as a dead end road from Daily Planet Rd to our southern property line.

 

[euro]

I'm hesitant to put in a gate or barrier because it would be inconvenient for us to open and close the gate when we come and go. BIL has something like that at the entrance to his farm to keep the animals in and it is a PITA. We also have family and friends nearby that visit regularly and they would have to do the same.

Well, it may come down to you having to make a choice as to what is a bigger pain in the butt. Unhooking a chain or watching a bunch of trespassers cross your property. It's all a matter of taste. Personally, I don't think operating a gate or a chain once or twice a day is THAT big a deal, but of course, it depends on circumstances. Perhaps consider an electric gate (I know, they don't tend to come cheap, but it IS another option...).
I don't think it is going to be any consolation to you, but I have had a very similar experience with Google Maps on behalf of an HOA that I run in the NC mountains. All dirt roads up there. Google maps sends people up our clearly marked "Private Road - no outlet" road because someone decided that there is a link over to the next mountain community when there clearly is NOT (and never was!). People get stuck in the mud up there all the time, but I have not been able to get Google to fix the error. Like you, I tried maybe a half dozen times to report it but to no avail. I have decided to move on

 

[Cobra9777]

My guess is they won't work one of these reports at all unless some minimum number of reports have been submitted. THEN, they probably get worked in priority order based on the number of reports and the number of *different* people reporting them. That's why I suggested setting up throw-away accounts and submitting multiple reports every day for a while.

Maybe you could use your own account (plus your wife's) to report the details you quoted above. Then use the others to report the road as blocked, with additional detail that, "it's somebody's private driveway." On some of the "road blocked" reports you could click the map where your driveway meets Lois Lane; and others where your driveway meets Clark Road.

 

[The Cosmic Avenger]

OK, if a gate or a chain would be a pain, maybe you need something that COULD block the driveway, that people going that way will see and notice, but not a huge, expensive project like a gate. Maybe put in posts and a day-glo orange chain, but always keep the chain "open", don't ever string it across? Or paint a bright line across the end of your driveway, with a posted sign lined up with it, so they're more likely to notice it? Something that will grab their attention and clearly convey that the driveway is private property.

 

[grasshopper]

I have two gates to open to leave our property, in 15+ years I have only had one person drive to the house.

Oh and she was selling girl scout cookies.

Seriously there is a general rule that you don't show up unexpected call first.

 

[Ronstar]

Probably easier to put up a fence than it would be to get Google to change their map.

 

[finnski1]

Maybe add a "dead end"sign next to your other signs on each end?
It sounds like you actually now have 2 driveways? if so can you block the one on Lois Lane? Maybe a split rail fence or something somewhat attractive

 

[calmloki]

OK, if a gate or a chain would be a pain, maybe you need something that COULD block the driveway, that people going that way will see and notice, but not a huge, expensive project like a gate. Maybe put in posts and a day-glo orange chain, but always keep the chain "open", don't ever string it across? Or paint a bright line across the end of your driveway, with a posted sign lined up with it, so they're more likely to notice it? Something that will grab their attention and clearly convey that the driveway is private property.

This looks like the cheapest most hassle-free to you solution to the problem. You will probably still get a few that have taken that route in the past, but I bet it would cut down on the trespassing considerably. It's also something you can effect on your own time schedule rather than hoping and waiting and wondering about google.

 

[NW-Bound]

... we now rarely use Lois Lane though we still have the right to do so since we have easements...

Until Google straightened out this mess, I would put two posts across the driveway with a chain strung across. Dangling on the chain would be a sign, "Private Property - No Trespassing".

 

[RobbieB]

You need a battery powered solar charged motorized gate. Then you just push your button and the gate slides open and then closes.

 

[Time2]

I've been trying to come up with post that collapses when you hit the remote control. Put your do not enter, private property sign and post, in the middle of the driveway. When you arrive hit the button, sign lays over, when you leave, hit button and sign stands erect. Haven't figured it out.