KFOR Channel 4 is still doing a good job at trying to pass off anything that's not news as legitimate news. This time around it has to do with "humiliating" content posted online about a small town police department.
Via KFOR:
An Oklahoma police department has been humiliated in a very public way.
Someone targeted the police department through Google.
Apparently at least one Google user isn’t too happy with the town’s lawmen...
Uh oh, what happened? Did someone on Yelp leave a bad review about the town's jail? Did a disgruntled citizen create a SEO optimized blog that documents and recaps the domestic abuse and infidelity that once ran rampant in the police department?
Nope, it's something far more serious.
“Forest PenisTown Clowns” is the first thing that pops up in the Google search, complete with a Google map of the accurate location of the police department and the correct phone number.
“The interesting thing about Google maps is where you found it,” social media expert Patrick Allmond said. “Anybody can put any business or any building on the internet on any address and that’s what somebody did and it looks like somebody wasn’t too favorable about the police department.”
That weird. I always thought PenisTown Clowns was the most popular club inside City Walk. Who knew it doubled as a police station.
Since it's a news report on KFOR, we also have to see what sex criminal defense attorney and hero who helped rescue Peruvian orphans from raging flood waters David Slane thinks about the deal:
Attorney David Slane said this prank on the police department represents a larger problem.
“But it does point out the larger problem which is identity theft, how easy somebody could take over your Facebook or your Google search,” Slane said.
Although this is prank was funny and amusing, I don't get how or why this is actual news. Sure, it may shock and scare someone like my 86-year-old grandfather who has never been on the Internet, but as the Tweetbag social media expert Patrick Allmond said, anybody can add any business or building to Google Maps. Hell, it's easier to add a location to Google than it is Wikipedia.
For example, look what I just added to Google.
Hehe, I just added KFOR PenisTown Clowns to Google Maps! And it literally took 30-seconds. I can't wait to see the KFOR report about that one. Hurry up and leave a review before they take it down.
