Bot (aka Spam Bot) is out of control.

[zxrayz]

I am assuming that the bots that are dropping point all over the map are Google Bots. But in reality these are the Biggest SPAMMERS!  In a country with no fixed addresses (building #, street name), the bot drops points everywhere. Some of this points are off by half the country. Other points are duplicates of good points that have been added by Humans. 

This is getting out of control. 

We cleared a field of 10+ bot edits (spam) yesterday. Most where bad duplicates of hotels within the region.

I cleared 10+ bad bot edit from a university yesterday. Then another user cleared another batch that had been added at the exact some point that afternoon. And now this morning there is another set of bad edits.  Click this spot... http://www.google.com/mapmaker?iwloc=0_0&gw=90&cid=13978625605300138632&dtab=overview&ll=9.937904,-84.052416&spn=0.003334,0.005606&z=18&lyrs=4&lyt=large_map&hyaw=279.95589941685887

I don't know if the bots are working out ok in other countries but in Costa Rica this thing is nothing but a Spammer!

[Serge]

+1 I'm totally agree with you.

[Chaitanya Sri]

Hi zxrayz,

I understand your concern here. But we would greatly appreciate if you could provide us with more instances where this phenomena is observed so that we could investigate it effectively.

Thanks for your patience on this :-)
Chaitanya

[zxrayz]

Okay let the list of spam from the bot begin.....

I call this area the 'Field of Spam' because the bot keeps dropping hotel listing in it. 

http://www.google.com/mapmaker?iwloc=0_0&gw=90&cid=18077669311371724402&dtab=overview&ll=10.483444,-84.648564&spn=0.013314,0.022423&t=h&z=16&lyt=large_map&hyaw=182.57707754547977

http://www.google.com/mapmaker?iwloc=0_0&gw=90&cid=7642578227730840309&dtab=overview&ll=10.48332,-84.6499&spn=0.000832,0.001401&z=20&lyt=large_map&hyaw=182.57707754547977

[Mr-G]

We have the same problem in Romania. Google bots made wrong edits everywhere (+1000 or more). You must STOP this now!

[zxrayz]

Here is another one... hotel point dropped in the middle of a golf course. If a user created thousand of bad points like this they would be a called a spammer right? Well, I call the bot a spammer too!

http://www.google.com/mapmaker?hl=en&fll=10.402623,-85.801849&fr=0.000844,0.000858&mpp=2.349384&gw=90&iwloc=0_0&cid=12095931023802242662&ll=10.402665,-85.798759&spn=0.013317,0.017402&t=h&z=16&lyt=large_map&htll=10.4027,-85.8018&hyaw=8.227742700239997

[zxrayz]

how about this one...  I have seen points are even farther off than this...

http://www.google.com/mapmaker?iwloc=0_0&gw=55&editids=tdkFuBK2JfnV3AyJJo&dtab=moderate&ll=9.24682,-83.83976&spn=0.213821,0.278435&t=h&z=12&lyrs=4&lyt=large_map&hyaw=8.227742700239997

[zxrayz]

http://www.google.com/mapmaker?gw=55&editids=tdkFuBK7wJ1s4MELAH&iwloc=0_0&t=h&dtab=overview

This is insane!

[zxrayz]

[zxrayz]

Four bot edit at the same place for an incorrect items!  KILL THE BOT!

[Chaitanya Sri]

Hi zxrayz,

Thank you very much for providing the instances. We are looking into it and will share our findings once we have an update.

Regards,
Chaitanya

[Serge]

Bot's activity cause severe irritation.

bot's feature VS  original feature

Please stop it.

[ANT [UkrainianTeam]]

+1

[Mihai]

My first report about the errors introduced by these bots were more then 6 month ago.
As you can see, I had no influence and the quality of the entries only got worse.

Part of the problem is that this application doesn't have quality as the main goal. As some of you pointed out, there are no minimal requirements for a PDI added by that bot - address, phone, email, no caps, etc.

If you think about it, those bots are the reason we also have the duplicated items and the issues related to them. Before the bots, we simply denied the edits that duplicated existing features.

For the software part, I don't understand why a programmer wanted these bots to add PDIs directly on the map. It should have been a layer, as we have street view or panoramio photos.

So, YES , STOP THE BOTS !!! REMOVE THE EDITS !!!

[Chaitanya Sri]

Hi guys,

We do get data from various sources on Maps, that get algorithmically added on Map Maker. Most of the times, this results in the data being improved for better. However, some edits might get incorrectly updated leading to them being marked as duplicates, moved to a wrong location, incorrect names being added, features being incorrectly reviewed, etc.

Feel free to report these on the Issue Tracker, whenever you see anything going wrong - so that we can improve the process.

Specifically with regards to incorrectly marked duplicates - while we don't have a good option to fix some of these yet, we are working on a solution for this. Where available, you can use the “Report a Problem” link on maps.google.com if you cannot fix the problem in Map Maker.


Thanks,
Chaitanya

[Serge]

The problem with this bot (583 days, 6.161.276 edits, 1919608 Points of interest,  4241668 Business listings) have a several points:

Features that the bot publish...

• ... as a rule is already mapped (Duplicate edit);
  
• ... always have a false location. Usually it's in the middle of the road, in the middle of an intersection, or in the center of the city;
  
• ... often have a false information. It may be outdated phone numbers, postal codes, etc. So it's May adversely affect user/data owners;
  
• ... often no longer existed for several years. So the edit could be misleading;
  
• ... often incomplete or too sparse;
  
• ... is very hard to find - just accidentally.
  

What we have in total? 

We have 2 millions invalid Points of interest, and 4 millions invalid Business listings, most of which are duplicate edits, may adversely affect user/data owners, could be misleading, incomplete and too sparse!

P.S. While I was writing this short message, the bot created another 314 features.

[Serge]

P.S. My last point "... is very hard to find - just accidentally." I mean, it is very difficult to find in GMM, to kill them. On Google Maps we have just the reversed situation  - the features created by a bot, are always on the first line in the search result. For some magic reason, these features always have a Panaramio pictures attached, and for some more magic reason these features always have the Google Plases votings. Sorry for my poor English.

[Chaitanya Sri]

Hi Serge,

I understand where you are coming from on this. But it would be lot easier if we had examples (links) to the above mentioned instances to share with the team. Could you file an entry on Issue Tracker so that others can also post similar instances.

Thanks,

Chaitanya

[Serge]

If I find "here and there" such a features, I delete them, or it's removed by someone else. I can say that for today I deleted a lot. So it's hard to put many links. I promise, if I find them in the feature, I'll write them down.

I hope zxrayz would help me to file an entry on Issue Tracker.

You know, @Chaitanya, there's an old anecdote:

- Do you know where to find spare parts for Russian cars?

- No, where?

- You just need to follow behind this car! :)))

I hope you get the idea - to find the problematic features, you just need to follow behind this bot. As a simple user, I have no such an opportunity. I can't see the bot's history.

[zxrayz]

I am with you Serge. I delete these bad bot edits when I find them.  I have not found a good bot edit yet.

Issue 2128:

Google Bot is a spammer - creates duplicates, adds incomplete data, items are way off in location - Kill the bot.

[D C]

@Chaitanya:

It feels like you are desperately trying to avoid admitting that Goggle bots do far more harm than good.  Look at all of the forum threads mentioning this (this is not the first).  Do you see anyone rushing to the bots' defense?  I can see only two possible solutions: 

     1) Turn the bots off!  (Extreme, I know, but very effective.)  

     2) Require moderation!  (Make every edit a bot makes get approval, just like other editors.  Some may say that this will create more work, but I disagree.  It will be far less work to deny a pending bot edit than have to find every bot edit and delete them, especially if they are duplicates.  The bots will need to keep a record of all of their denied edits, and not be allowed to resubmit the same edit.)  

[Ram Chennai]

please stop it

---

From: General Map Maker on behalf of Serge <google-...@googlegroups.com>
To: google-...@googlegroups.com
Sent: Thursday, 27 October 2011 12:56 AM
Subject: Re: Bot (aka Spam Bot) is out of control.

Bot's activity cause severe irritation.

bot's feature VS  original feature

Please stop it.

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Thanks for using Google Map Maker! :-)

[Serge]

But it would be lot easier if we had examples (links) to the above mentioned instances to share with the team.

Herewith a few rubbish features:

Best Eastern Hotel Tashkent (Fully rubbish)

Best Eastern Uzbekistan Hotel

Grand Mir Hotel (Duplicate)

Dedeman Silk Road Tashkent (FULLY rubbish, duplicate, an original object located in few kilometers)

Dedeman Silk Road Tashkent (One more duplicate)

Dedeman Silk Road Tashkent (One more duplicate)

Domina Shodik Palace

Domina Shodlik Palace

Best Eastern Bumi Hotel

Club 777 Hotel

Raddus JSS Hotel

Raddus JSS Hotel

Asia Hotel Tashkent

This is few examples from 6 million bad features created by this bot.

[Serge]

P.S. The "Best Eastern" prefix in above mentioned feature's names - it's fully bullshit. There is a real hotels with such names (in different locations), but without the "Best Eastern" prefix. 

I'm not able even use "Report this" function for those features:
The operation could not be performed because the underlying feature is missing. Please report this error along with a link to this page

[Serge]

Hi, Chaitanya,

"Good" update.
I just found out that I'm not able to provide the links. Believe me, I know how to make feature's links! I find the feature on the map, click Details, and copy the link from the left pane. Now, try to click on above mentioned hotels! I get a Russian/English mix error "Внутренняя ошибка — All Requested Features Not Found. Пожалуйста, составьте отчет с описанием причи ..." (Internal Error - Get Feature Has Zero Requests. Please report describing the reason...)

The only way to find those rubbish features - is to use a Search by keywords such a "Best Eastern".

[Chaitanya Sri]

Hi Mappers!

We have created a sheet to capture links to such suspect features and would need your help in capturing these instances. When you are unable to capture the links to certain features, please provide the co-ordinates of the area and info like the feature name.

The spreadsheet has 4 tabs to capture:

1. Incorrect additions
2. Duplicate additions
3. Incorrect changes / edits
4. Incorrect reviews
Feel free to add the instances country-wise in the 4 tabs mentioned above. These inputs will be very helpful and we appreciate your cooperation in this regard.

[Craig Hartel]

I flagged for deletion a number of points here.

[Chaitanya Sri]

Hi all,

Thank you for reporting these. Please feel free to add more instances to the sheet as and when you come across similar ones.

Regards,
Chaitanya Sri

[Mihai]

I already added 20 examples. And I am not searching for them....

So....HOW FAST IS THIS BOT GOING TO BE STOPPED ?? If I add 20 more examples, are you going to stop it immediately ?

[zxrayz]

Yesterday I was adding info and correcting the boundary to a hotel. (Boundary like so many others lately did not update on the map.) Minutes after I finished the bot dropped a useless duplicate in the middle of the parking lot. Seriously!

http://www.google.com/mapmaker?iwloc=0_0&gw=55&editids=iEYdizQ-9E8WnSk8Kl&ll=9.988161,-84.173614&spn=0.003334,0.005611&t=h&z=18&lyrs=4&lyt=large_map&htll=9.987955,-84.173298&hyaw=279.95589941685887

Look at how bad the bot is....

1) it is a duplicate

2) the bot adds the words "Costa Rica" to every name. We don't need the country name with the name of a Hotel

3) the bot adds the words "Hotel" to every name and translate it to 50 languages. We don't need the category as part of the name.

4) the bot adds multiple phone and fax numbers, with incorrect numbers

It is time to KILL THE BOT!

[Saikrishna Arcot]

LOL!

If the Spam Bot has to stay in effect (which I don't recommend, as it would be adding spam features), then please add a name and address checking to make sure it's not adding duplicates.

[Ian Nájar]

Google Map Maker should install a Captcha field in almost every edit.
This could avoid all this bots.

2011/11/16 General Map Maker on behalf of Saikrishna Arcot
<google-...@googlegroups.com>:

[Serge]

Hi, Mr. LinDowsMac,

The problem is - this bot if made by Google. :((((

Now this bot start to SPAM in Belarus - https://groups.google.com/d/topic/mapmaker-belarus/3EZU0x6DdIs/discussion

PLEASE, STOP THE BOT.

[Sergei Zhukovich]

+1. Almost all the points added by this bot in my area are incorrect or duplicated.

[Dario Arismendi]

Can you tell me how can i change my anonymous to my real name?

[zxrayz]

I am assuming this one is a bot too.  The Cleaner

I am finding it is deleting all local names on the map. What's up with that?

[Srini vas]

Adding to zxrayz comment, The Cleaner Bot not only deleting the Local names but also the name added in English language. Here is an example where the Bot deleted the English name of the State named Maharashtra in India.

P.S. Bot reported to Incorrect Bot edits/reviews spreadsheet

[zxrayz]

This thing appears to deleting names and changing other local names Obsured.

We need some answers here. What is the purpose of the Bot? Is the name type Local being removed in a future update? What is going on?

[Srini vas]

Thanks to Map Maker Revert Bot for helping spammers, Sample edits http://goo.gl/iP2vc, http://goo.gl/zUPFw. I spent a whole day deleting such Escort services but this Bot re installed those edits. Why this bots are programmed to revert such worst listings, There are many useful places that are wrongly marked as duplicate and needs to be re installed.

[Srini vas]

Even Google Trusted Reviewers denials cant stop Map Maker Bot from re opening  Escort services, Link to the feature, http://goo.gl/sRs1K

[Michael Shulist]

Now I'm seeing these random POI's dropped all over maps I have worked on. 

See http://www.google.com/mapmaker?gw=11&category=Any&ctype=0&qmo=pend&ll=43.966905,-79.272763&spn=0.003158,0.005236&t=h&z=18&lyrs=2,3,4&lyt=large_map&hyaw=77.66583653500807

for examples. There are four that have been dropped in an empty field in the last week.

[canada_mapmaker]

I just reviewed your deletions with approval!

[Marius Chilianu]

please stop the bots! they're really ravaging the map!

[Hen]

This is outragous,it is now auto denying all of my edits which is increasing my denial ratio :( please fix this.

[Chaitanya Sri]

Hi all,

@ zxrayz - Thanks for posting this profile. We are keeping a close watch on this profile for the weird phenomena you reported.

@ Srinivas - This does not seem to be the intended behavior. Let me come back to you once I get an update on the same.

@ Michael Shulist -  The edit history is not visible for the links you posted.I have updated an known issuewith the instances you provided to investigate the reason behind the additions of these POIs.

Thanks all for posting these.

Regards,
Chaitanya

[Mara Winslow]

Bot? or not?  I went through 53 pages of this individuals edits done between Dec.7-9 trying to find the edits where he had removed all pedestrian access from a parking lot and made a divided local road into two, two way roads in rural South Carolina.  

That's a lot of edits: Google Reviewer srinivasrao

[Willy Hrachovina]

I have found a bunch in Newport News, Virginia, and I will list them below. I have called the numbers/visited the web sites to confirm that they are spam.

http://www.google.com/mapmaker?gw=39&fid=0x89b079b40000003d:0xe51d39eafae789c9

http://www.google.com/mapmaker?gw=39&fid=0x89b079b40000003d:0xeb05d9cabd4352ee

http://www.google.com/mapmaker?gw=39&fid=0x89b079b40000003d:0x90e388dac15de148

http://www.google.com/mapmaker?gw=39&fid=0x89b079b40000003d:0xc18ca93479cff460

http://www.google.com/mapmaker?gw=39&fid=0x89b079b40000003d:0x8355b201234d9718

http://www.google.com/mapmaker?gw=39&fid=0x89b079b40000003d:0x30326eee99665bf1

http://www.google.com/mapmaker?gw=39&fid=0x89b079b40000003d:0x4a6a2515dc21dc6

[Wthrwyz]

It would be really nice if those all had valid addresses so our RER powers would kick in. :-(

[Serge]

Now we have a new phenomenon - The Cleaner Bot.... is a sabotage at all!! Part of this Bot job - is deleting a local names! Thousands of users are spend their own personal time to make the maps better indeed, but the bot destroys all that GOOD work!

[Serge]

PLEASE STOP The Cleaner bot - it's damaged feature's information, it's destroys and huge work of all community!!! What the reason to delete VALID names?!

[Wthrwyz]

I agree that a cleanup bot is needed, but this one's parameters seem a bit off.  Its efforts in my area have been questionable as well.

[zxrayz]

There is no 'weird phenomena' here.  The Bot adds NOTHING but garbage to the map.  And the 'Cleaner' bot does nothing but delete Local names.  It is very clear and simple.

As has been said before.... Just look at the different Bot history profiles.   

We have finally got good G-Reviewer and users are being educated to add good data, but the stupid bots are doing more harm the all of the previous approval happy G-Reviewers, spammer, and bad user have ever done.

Whatever happened to quality over quantity? I guess google just wants more garbage in their pot to spit out more search results than the other guys, regardless of whether it is right or not.

[zxrayz]

Seriously, who on the Google end is supported the keeping of the stupid bot that keep adding spam to the map?  Maybe the supporters need to go with the bot. Yeah maybe that sounds extreme but something needs to be done. This mess of 'give us examples and we will examine it' is crazy. As we have said, "just follow the bot". Now up to 7,000,000 + bad items on the map. If this was a human and they dropped 100 points on the maps all way off from their correct location, or having absolutely no information to back them except a phone number; the user would be band as a spammer.

Again, I say, I have seen absolutely NOTHING that the bot has added that is in the correct location. The stupid thing just keeps adding multiples of the same item in different places. If we delete one, it comes right back. If we delete a stack of incorrect items that the bot has added to one point, it drops another stack of them in the same place.

Look at this. We just finished clearing all the bad bot items for a hotel. There was something like 4 bot markers for the same place, each marked in different locations, all created by the bot. The last bot edit was deleted and what happens... here comes another one. http://goo.gl/p2tcv  And the stupid bot edit is the only one that is found with a search and it is way off from the correct location.  The operators of the hotel reported the problem to me, stating that visitors use the Google Map and they are all taking to the wrong location and therefore their guest can not find the hotel. Nice work Google. The tourism industry is struggling and you are indirectly frustrating the remaining travels by allowing a bot to run wild dropping garbage all over the map.

Another hotel operator in Panama contacted me a few weeks ago with the same problem; multiple markers for his hotel and guest were using the Google Map and getting lost. This time the bot added one bad duplicate about 2 bots over in town; 2 blocks off in a foreign town no doubt could leave a potential guess a little irritated. But the other item that the bot added was off by half the country, seriously! The hotel is located in David, Panama and the stupid bot added a point in the middle of Panama City. That something like maybe a 6 to 8 hour drive off in location.

I don't know what you guys on the google end are thinking you are accomplishing by keeping this stupid bot in operation. But it has added nothing in the correct location and keeps duplicating items. Think about it. What is a map? I like this definition from dictionary.com:  "a representation, usually on a flat surface, as of the features of an area of the earth or a portion of the heavens, showing them in their respective forms, sizes, and relationships according to some convention of representation: a map of Canada."  And who typically uses a map? It is the people that don't know the area well. No one is going to sit at home and say, "I need to go down to the store and pickup some chips. I better get out my map." A map is used for people to find or navigate to places or items that they don't already know. If these items are not at the correct location, what good is the map? None. If a business has only one location and it is marked at multiple places can a person depend on the map to get them to the correct location? No.

This BOT problem has been going on entirely too long. And from a user standpoint it does not appear that anything is being done about.

Bad information is worst then no information.

Needly to say, I find this frustrating.  Now, imagine how those that have businesses like those mentioned above feel.

[zxrayz]

Is ANYONE on the Google end listening to us? I really want to know.  It is bad enough that the stupid bot adds garbage all over the map - items that can be off location by 1km to half of the country, stacks multiple garbage points on top of every park, church, or school, but the STUPID bot has DUPLICATED EVERY ITEM IN THE COUNTRY!

We need some answers and this needs to be taking care of fast!

Yes, I am just a little irritated with the bots.

[K]

I agree.  Shut down "The Cleaner!"

I have been trying to undo catastrophic edits made by "The Cleaner" since the last quarter of 2011, and "The Cleaner" keeps re-posting the SAME bad info!

This bot is turning Google Maps, MapMaker, and Places into a pile of complete rubbish.

Hours upon hours of my efforts have been reversed again and again.  Businesses are losing thousands of dollars each week from this disaster, and SILENCE is all I see from Google.  Ten minutes of basic Google searching by anyone with clout over at Google would prove this bot's edits ALL need to be undone.

[zxrayz]

Do you see a problem here?! http://goo.gl/YiYyG

I don't care whether this was added by a bot or by an idiot human through G Maps and then approved by the bot. This is the kind of garbage this is be allowed on the map because of the BOT or just poor quality control programing.

Here we have an item that belongs on the Pacific coast and where is added and approved? On the Atlantic side in the mountains.

This has got to STOP!  

WHEN is someone on the Google end going to start listening?

(Yes, I am yelling because I cannot stand it any more.)

[zxrayz]

Oh we have all seen lots of poorly placed bot items but this one is the winner! http://goo.gl/Ad1bs   This one is just about a whole Continent off!

Go all the way back to the first edit where the bot dropped this on the map.