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Can Google Maps be wrong?
Jan 6, 2024
Absolutely.
It looks like Google calculates road traffic based on the number and speed at which Android smartphones move on the roads.
A German artist named Simon Weckert took advantage of this Google Maps feature to make quiet back streets look busy.
He did that by transporting a cart with 99 Android smartphones turned on and connected to the GPS.
The artist filmed the experiment in a YouTube video, where he walks slowly carrying his cart along deserted streets that Google Maps indicates as congested.