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What happens when Google declares a thriving company is dead?

Because of a quirk in Google's crowdsourcing strategy, some businesses have been marked "closed" when they're actually flourishing.

It鈥檚 been a long day, and you鈥檙e looking forward to dinner at that caf茅 you heard about from your friend a few days back. You look up the address on Google Maps, and 鈥� wait, what? It鈥檚 permanently closed? That鈥檚 weird; your friend said she was just there a few days ago.

This scenario has been playing out more and more frequently over the past few months, as healthy businesses 鈥� ones that are, in reality, open and eager for customers 鈥� find themselves listed as 鈥渃losed鈥� due to a quirk in Google鈥檚 crowdsourcing techniques. David Segal at the New York Times that many businesses have found themselves digitally shuttered for only a few hours, but sometimes the problem can last for weeks. And all the while, potential customers may be passing up the place, assuming it鈥檚 a goner.

The quirk lies in the way Google Places, the hub that feeds location data to Google Maps, accepts user input. A Places listing usually contains, in addition to the business鈥檚 address, description, and reviews, a drop-down arrow enabling users to 鈥渞eport a problem鈥� with the business. One of the problems that can be reported is that 鈥渢his place is permanently closed.鈥� Once enough users report that a business is closed, the business鈥檚 digital storefront can be labeled either 鈥渞eportedly closed鈥� or 鈥減ermanently closed.鈥�

Google鈥檚 M.O. isn鈥檛 malicious 鈥� they鈥檙e harnessing the power of crowds to keep listings up to date, rather than trying to manually curate profiles or relying on business owners to update their listings when they close shop or move. But it only takes a few malicious users 鈥� such as unscrupulous competitors 鈥� to mark a business as 鈥渃losed鈥� online. The problem apparently started becoming widespread back in June.

Google does provide a way for a wrongly-shuttered business to be 鈥渞eopened鈥� online, but it鈥檚 not always effective. Next to any business that鈥檚 been marked 鈥渃losed,鈥� there鈥檚 a link reading 鈥淣ot true?鈥� Clicking it will, in some cases, remove the 鈥渃losed鈥� designation, but many business owners have reported the problem persisting for days or weeks, in spite of their efforts to remove the label. Like most algorithms at Google, the alchemy whereby a business is digitally closed or reopened remains a guarded trade secret 鈥� or at least shrouded in mystery.

For its part, Google has already begun taking steps to fix the system. The Times reports that a Google spokesman promised changes 鈥� he didn鈥檛 specify what kind 鈥� would be coming in the next few days to prevent 鈥渕alicious or incorrect labeling鈥� of businesses. And starting a few weeks ago, the company has begun sending an email alert to business owners if their place is marked as 鈥減ermanently closed,鈥� so at least they鈥檒l know to take action if that鈥檚 not the case.

Readers: have you ever been tricked into thinking your favorite place was gone forever? Have any ideas for how Google can put a stop to malicious markings? Let us know in the comments.