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Motorola's #iLost campaign used fake address to make Apple maps look bad

Motorola's #iLost campaign used fake address to make Apple maps look bad

By NDTV Correspondent | Updated: 28 September 2012 12:05 IST

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Apple's new maps in iOS 6 have been the subject of a lot of ridicule - rightly so, for most parts. Everyone from Nokia to Samsung have taken pot shots at Apple's maps.

Google's Motorola ran the most aggressive campaign earlier this week, when it ran ads with the hashtag #iLost. The ad showed an iPhone running Apple's maps and Google maps on new Droid RAZR M smartphone, side by side, both with looking up an address "315 e 15th st ny". While Apple's maps showed some other address, Google's maps proudly displayed the "correct" address. Or did they?

A report in Apple Insider indicates the reason Apple Maps failed to find the address is that it doesn't exist:

The problem, as noted by reader AMD Pettitte, is that 315 E 15th Street is not an actual address in Manhattan. A public park sits on that side of the street, making none of the block's odd numbers a valid address. The number will never be a valid address in Manhattan. This is indicated by looking closely at the picture, but none of the thousands of people sharing the false address lookup ad seemed to notice this.

If you're looking for an actual address in Manhattan, say 318 E 15th, the apartment building across from Google's fictitious address in the park, Apple's Maps can correctly locate it.

So is typing a fake address to make Apple maps look worse fair? Venture Beat certainly thinks so:

Shocking revelation here: When travelers need to find a place, they don't always know the exact address. Therefore, a great mapping app will not only get you where you need to go when you have all the correct information ... well, it will also work when you have only partial address data.

No doubt Apple maps aren't at the same level as Google maps yet, but is Google's Motorola justified in using "wrong" addresses to make itself look better?

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