I am a bit of a map addict. So when figuring out a visit to London City today I tuned in on Google Maps. When zooming in I got this map:
The pink establishment in the lower middle is the Royal Exchange, which today is filled up by luxury shops. First guess is that Google Maps has overlaid the map with positions from a business directory where Paul Smith was placed inside the building but Louis Vuitton due to a precision issue was placed outside in front of the building.
But there may be other explanations.
As the list of shops in the Royal Exchange shows here, there apparently isn’t a Louis Vuitton shop there.
So maybe Google Maps is timely real world aligned and Louis Vuitton was kicked out of the building (for being too cheap?) and now only has a booth on the steps in front of the building?
Of course, being a data quality geek, yours truly made a real world alignment check.
My report:
- There’s no booth with bags (fake or real) in front of the building.
- Paul Smith is exactly on the position within the building as shown on the map.
- There’s no Louis Vuitton shop in the building.
- There’s a Louis Vuitton shop, with only one bag with no price tag per window (so it must be real), in the next building behind the Royal Exchange.
Conclusion:
It’s a precision issue with business directory positions on a map, where one is randomly spot on and the other isn’t. You can’t expect data quality luxury.
Liliendahl on Data Quality 
Great post as always Henrik! This happens even more frequently on Google Maps in less densely populated areas. For example, my home is located in a town with only 1200 full time residents. Google maps locates my address a half mile away from where it actually exists…and I have sent corrections in to them (just for kicks); only recently has the location of my home been updated to show up correctly! While I’d love to have a Louis Vuitton bag, I’d rather have people be able to find my home.
Quality Expectations
The accuracy of Google maps is governed by their policy below. Besides Google maps is “free” . What quality expectations should we have reagrding free products? Google can say “you were warned”.
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Surely the map shows what you describe? The Louis Vuitton shop is on the unnamed lane linking Cornhill and Threadneedle Street. According to the LV website, this is Change Alley.
Anyway, if it doesn’t have a price tag, you can’t afford it.
Thanks for mapping in Karen, Richard and Jack.
@Jack. Yep, Change Alley seems to be the small path behind (and not in front) of Royal Exchange. Change Alley is a lovely name for a street and a whole journey by the way.