Apple Maps scores poorly against Google

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SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 21 (UPI) -- A test of the accuracy of directions given by map apps found Apple Maps is three times more likely to get someone lost than Google Maps, a U.S. company says.

Crowdsourcing company CrowdFlower analyzed directions to 1,000 businesses in the United States and 100 in Britain given by Apple Maps, Google Maps and Microsoft's Bing browser, the Chicago Tribune reported Thursday.

CrowdFlower, which has headquarters in San Francisco, went to the website of each business to find its listed address, then entered the company name and its city as search terms in each mapping service

CrowdFlower said it scored the applications on two things: Did the mapping service give a result and was the result accurate?

Google led the way in the first score in United States, finding 89 percent of the businesses. Bing followed with 79 percent and Apple Maps with 74 percent.

Results in Britain were roughly the same, CrowdFlower said.

And when it came to giving actual directions to businesses, Apple Maps was much more likely to get a user lost than Google, it said.

Apple Maps scored a 3.4 percent error rate in the United States while Google Maps had a 1.1 percent rate and Bing a 1.3 percent rate.

But in Britain, Apple's major error rate skyrockets to 30 percent while the two other mapping services stayed below 5 percent.

"There's a decent chance Apple Maps will send you in the wrong direction," CrowdFlower said, adding "you're three times as likely to be sent on a wild goose chase with Apple Maps."

"Apple Maps in the United States is bad enough to be noticeable," it said. "You probably won't throw away your iPhone, although you may miss a dinner reservation."