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Ok, check this out. While on the way home yesterday from out of town, I searched in Google Maps on my iPhone for the nearest Starbucks, and got a few hits, one a couple exits away. I then decided to check for another coffee shop that is local here since they have been expanding out of state, but no luck. So then I re-checked for Starbucks… and I got a hit for Dunkin Donuts instead. Same street as the closest Starbucks was the first time I checked, but quite clearly Dunkin Donuts, with the subtext "sponsored result". I looked at the search bar, and I clearly and correctly had typed Starbucks. I looked again at the map. No hits for Starbucks, just the one for Dunkin Donuts. So I simply searched again (no retyping, I just tapped the search field and re-searched) and got Starbucks properly this time.
So… basically it looks like Dunkin Donuts is paying Google to randomly replace search hits in Google Maps for Starbucks with their own stores. Maybe it was just this one store that is involved. Either way, that irritates the bejeezus out of me.
So… basically it looks like Dunkin Donuts is paying Google to randomly replace search hits in Google Maps for Starbucks with their own stores. Maybe it was just this one store that is involved. Either way, that irritates the bejeezus out of me.