Google Temporarily Shutters Maps Editing Tool After Embarrassing Apple Golden Shower

Sometimes, it’s the little things that can give rise to a simple little chuckle. Such was the case a few weeks ago when the image of an Android peeing all over the Apple logo (in true Calvin and Hobbes fashion) appeared in Google Maps. The image appeared within Google’s popular mapping application just south Islamabad, Pakistan — perhaps the perpetrators thought that no one would ever look there.

While it was a humorous prank that many of us brushed aside as just good old fashioned fun, Google obviously saw things differently and issued an apology after taking down the image. "We’re sorry for this inappropriate user-created content; we’re working to remove it quickly," said Google's Mara Harris in late April. "We also learn from these issues, and we’re constantly improving how we detect, prevent and handle bad edits."

Google is apparently still going through the learning process as the company will temporarily suspend the Map Maker, which means that edits by third-parties cannot be completed at this time.

Pavithra Kanakarajan, a member of the Map Maker team, took to the Google Products Forum to not only discuss the pissing incident, but to also explain why the Map Maker is being take offline. “We have come to the conclusion that it is not fair to any of our users to let them continue to spend time editing. Every edit you make is essentially going to a backlog that is growing very fast,” Kanakarajan explained. “We believe that it is more fair to only say that if we do not have the capacity to review edits at roughly the rate they come in, we have to take a pause.”

The Map Maker suspension goes into effect on May 12 and will last for an unspecified length of time. And when it does comes back online, Google will hopefully have implemented a competent system that thwarts defacing attempts by pranksters.