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WSJ: Google Maps is flooded with 'millions' of fake business listings (updated)
If you've ever tried to find a locksmith on Google in a pinch, this may not surprise you. Turns out Google Maps is filled with millions of scam operations that are impersonating real businesses, according to a new report from the Wall Street Journal. There are currently an estimated 11 million fake business listings on Google Maps, and new listings with false phone numbers or addresses arrive every month.
The internet has finally killed off the Yellow Pages
If you're after a plumber you look on Checkatrade, if you need a cab you fire up the Uber app, and if you're craving pizza you simply ask Alexa to order one. With all the conveniences the internet affords, it was inevitable the local listings tome that is the Yellow Pages would go the way of the dodo eventually. Yell has announced that the large paper doorstop is indeed approaching its final hour. After distributing a penultimate edition in Kingston in January next year, Yell will officially say goodbye to the Yellow Pages in January 2019, when the last ever copies will hit doorsteps in Brighton -- back where it all began in 1966.
California stops automatic phone book delivery following pressure from Verizon
We've long known paper books are on the decline, but now we're seeing the first death knell for the fattest of them all. California's public utilities commission has ruled that it will no longer deliver doorstops residential phone books unless folks specifically ask for it -- a move that's expected to prevent 1,870 tons of material from entering the state's waste stream. Californians, like everyone else, can search the White Pages online, but they'll still be able to request a paper copy or CD-ROM if they're feeling old-fashioned. For now, though, the state will continue to ship government White Pages and the Yellow Pages for local business listings (in a post-Yelp world, that seems antiquated). What's especially fascinating about all this is that the pressure to cease automatic phone book deliveries came from none other than Verizon, which mounted a case back in October, citing the enormous human and natural resources required to get updated phone books into people's hands each year. Of course, the estimated 1,870 tons of averted waste is a fraction of the 660,000 tons BanthePhoneBook.org says these tomes create every year, but here's hoping it'll be enough to make other states take note.
