That’s it, I’ve been burned by Google Maps for directions in Utah one too many times. I’m not sure what the deal is but Google will often be no where near the correct spot when looking up locations around here. And I don’t mean by a few blocks here or there, I mean several miles. Oddly enough though Yahoo! Maps and MapQuest were able to get it right, at least in the few test addresses that I tried.
So if you happen to be in or traveling through Utah and are tempted to look up an address or directions using Google Maps, remember that it might be plus or minus seven miles 🙂
5 replies on “Don’t Trust Google Maps For Directions in Utah”
The problem is that the exits for I15 in Google are all misaligned. This stems from I-15 being redone for the Olympics back in 2001-2002. The redone highway varies slightly from what was there before but they didn’t change the exit numbers. So for people exit 279 is still 279 but Google looks at it and says – no, there is actually an exit at 236 (or something like that – I can’t remember exactly how it works but if you have to go north past bountiful or south around the point of the mountain watch for exit street names, not the exit number).
I’ve had trouble with Google Maps as well. In Utah county, they changed the exit numbers on I-15. Google doesn’t have the new exit numbers in their system yet, so you can end up getting off the freeway too early (or too late). If you watch the mileage instead of the exit numbers, the directions are spot on, though.
The I-15 changes can’t be the only thing causing problems because I’ve had it give me directions that were off by more than a mile that was only surface streets.
How does Live Maps do? http://maps.live.com
I’m not one to gratuitously pimp my employer’s offerings, but Maps is one of the best things to come out of Windows Live.
@Joe-
I ran a couple of the addresses that Google Maps failed on through maps.live.com and it got one right and one wrong. Still better is better odds than with Google at this point 🙂