Quote:
Originally Posted by shappy
From what I understand, the google POIs are pulled from their DB which any user can add to (has to be approved by google before going live) so if for whatever reason, enough businesses aren't added in an area, the colouring won't form.
Does anyone have info on google's procedure for these areas?
I agree these do seem a bit arbitrary (although a pretty good guide). For example my hood (Eglinton and Mt Pleasant), there are lots of businesses on my street and Eglinton between Yonge and Mt Pleasant to suggest a blob. Bayview south of Eglinton is another in the area. Certainly more than say Gottingen and Young in Halifax (not to pick on Halifax).
An equivalent area to Gottingen might be Baldwin st which is also not highlighted.
Curious if Google has other criteria than it simply being in their DB.
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I think the Halifax one is just zoomed in more. It's not highlighting Gottingen, but rather
this stretch on Young, which is definitely a commercial node in contrast to the mostly residential stuff around it.
The Mt. Pleasant and Bayview strips get highlighted when you zoom in closer, though yeah, they probably should be highlighted further out, since they're major commercial hubs in the area. (Likewise in Halifax, the two or three blocks on Agricola surrounding North Street should certainly be highlighted at a higher zoom level, but a lot of the commercial activity is new, so it might be taking a while for user-generated info to catch up to development).
Overall these seem pretty good. Flawed, but less so than, say, Walkscore, which I've always found to be pretty dubious.
But I wonder how much this has to do with demographics and Google's databases. Maybe the kind of businesses on, for example, Queen and Dundas streets are more Google-user friendly than the businesses on Bloor West. Much of the latter strip are mom-and-pop shops catering to a less affluent, more immigrant-heavy population, which is certainly not the case on Queen.