Lost in Seattle

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

  1. What is Lost in Seattle?
  2. Is this the (listed business) home page? Is this site affiliated with (listed business)? Can I send a message to (listed business) through this site?
  3. How/why did my business get listed?
  4. Where do you get your information?
  5. Does this listing cost anything?
  6. Can I advertise my business on this site?
  7. Can I add my business to the map?
  8. How accurate is the information on this site?
  9. Something in my listing is wrong, or I want to add information. How can I change it? How long will it take?
  10. It looks like my listing can be modified by anybody out there - is that true?
  11. Can I remove my listing?
  12. I sent in an update, correction, or additional information. Why didn't you use it?

See also:

Terms of Use • Preview Edition status • About Lost in Seattle • Contact Us

What is Lost in Seattle?

Lost in Seattle is a detailed city map that shows buildings, shops, businesses, and other places. It demonstrates a technology that makes and publishes this kind of map. If you click on a place that is shown on the map, you get a page with information about that place. The page serves as a place marker and directory listing for that place. Back to top

Is this the (listed business) home page? Is this site affiliated with (listed business)? Can I send a message to (listed business) through this site?

No - Lost in Seattle is an independent publisher and is not affiliated with any of the places listed. Our pages are independent directory listings, and listed places are not involved in their publishing or otherwise connected in any way. Messages sent from this site go to the Lost in Seattle webmaster, not to the listed business, and are not forwarded to them. Back to top

How/why did my business get listed?

Businesses get listed when one of our surveyors visits the neighborhood, sees the business, and puts it on the map. The surveyor interprets publicly visible signage to express what a typical pedestrian would see and interpret if they visited the location. We try to list any shop that is accessible from a public thoroughfare. Businesses that appear to be solely private are not shown or are categorized as "private". Shops that are interior to shopping malls or otherwise not accessible from a public thoroughfare are usually not shown. Back to top

Where do you get your information?

Information about businesses comes from a combination of sources such as direct survey, web and phone research, and user contributions. Back to top

Does this listing cost anything?

Listings are, and will always be, free of charge. Back to top

Can I advertise my business on this site?

Currently we do not offer advertising services. The ads you see on the site are provided to us by the Google AdWords program, and their content is determined by Google. Back to top

Can I add my business to the map?

We will try to accomodate additions as time permits, if:

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How accurate is the information on this site?

First, please be aware that this site is offered as a technology demonstration, not as a source of information - any and all information is depicted because it is necessary to demonstrate the technology effectively. If you use the information depicted, it is at your own risk.

To make the demonstration most effective, we strive to make the map as accurate as possible. As with any product of this size, typographical and interpretive errors may occur when the map is created. We are happy to correct reported errors or add new information, as long as we can confirm the change.

The map is meant to represent what a surveyor saw at the time of survey. Over time, this information may become outdated and we do not routinely seek out these changes. However, to test various modes of updating the information we may incorporate user suggestions or conduct update surveys on an irregular schedule. Back to top

Something in my listing is wrong, or I want to add information. How can I change it? How long will it take?

Usually errors can be addressed within one or two business days, if you tell us it is critical and give us enough information to verify it. If necessary we may choose to temporarily remove a page until it can be corrected.

Less critical changes (addition of new information, etc) will be added on the next update cycle after verification. Because this site is undergoing development, update cycles vary from several days to several weeks. Information that cannot be confirmed might not be added at our discretion. Please note that search engines such as Google may continue to point to old pages or cache their content, a process which is out of our control. Back to top

It looks like my listing can be modified by anybody out there - is that true?

No. Visitors can post "suggested revisions", which do not modify the base information, but provide a way to immediately suggest additional information for review by other visitors and our staff. Revisions are limited to factual information such as address, phone, etc. and are monitored regularly for abuse. Revisions may be added to the permanent database after they are validated. Back to top

Can I remove my listing?

We are happy to remove any listing at the request of the shop, business, or building owner. Back to top

I sent in an update, correction, or additional information. Why didn't you use it?

• Maybe we have not done an update cycle since you sent it to us. Update cycles vary in length from several days to several weeks.

• Maybe we couldn't confirm the information independently. Please provide as much information as possible about why you believe the information to be true.

• Some information such as email address and fax number do not currently appear on shop pages, although we do keep them in the database for future use.

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