Illustrative evidence of misinformation on temples and historic sites on Google Maps (sample tested c. mid June 2022)
Example 1: Farmer fields in rural Telangana with nothing except crops and mother nature, all four pins are wrong.
Example 2: Two locations pinned for the same Aratala Jain historic site in Karnataka. Click both and we see photos of the same temple site (along with some frivolous personal photos that have nothing to do with the temple). The upper pinned location is wrong. The lower one is correct.
Example 3: Frivolous cricket video disrespectfully posted for the Jain temple, and carelessly or disrespectfully accepted by Google Maps review team.
These are not rare exceptions. This problem on Google Maps for Buddhist–Hindu–Jain–Sikh temples and historic sites of India has been quite widespread. This misinformation problem has been growing on Google Maps over 2016 to 2022.
Such crowd sourced information was accepted by Google Maps review team. For what it is worth, every photo or video or correction contribution is reviewed by Google Maps moderators. We know because we have tried to submit correct information with GPS-tagged photos, and also tried to correct some gross errors and misinformation with "Suggest an Edit" feature available on Google Maps. The review team's flippant "could not verify" reply confirms that our contributions or suggested corrections were reviewed. It is difficult to understand why disrespectful–wrong–frivolous photos or videos or contributions on Buddhist–Hindu–Jain–Sikh heritage sites and monuments is accepted by Google Maps review team, while correct information is rejected. This has discouraged us to continue to volunteer our time to help improve Google Maps.
