Quick. Fracas needs your help.
The Background:
Argleton, a ‘phantom town’ in Lancashire that appears on Google Maps and online directories but doesn’t actually exist, has puzzled internet experts.
The town appears on Google Maps in the middle of fields close to the M58 motorway, just south of Ormskirk.
Its ‘presence’ means that online businesses that use data from the software have detected it and automatically treated it as a real town in the L39 postcode area.
An internet search for the town now brings up a series of home, job and dating listings for people and places “in Argleton”, as well as websites which help people find its nearest chiropractor and even plan jogging or hiking routes through it. The businesses, people and services listed are real, but are actually based elsewhere in the same postcode area.
Google and the company that supplies its mapping data are unable to explain the presence of the phantom town and are investigating.
…
A spokesman for Google said: “While the vast majority of this information is correct there are occasional errors. We’re constantly working to improve the quality and accuracy of the information available in Google Maps and appreciate our users’ feedback in helping us do so. People can report an issue to the data provider directly and this will be updated at a later date.”
The data for the programme was provided by Dutch company Tele Atlas. A spokesman said it would now wipe the non-existent town from the map.
Read the full article here
As a long-time internet user who has always tried to maintain the right balance of privacy and sharing of personal details with the world at large, I was overjoyed to learn about Argleton.
Scenario #1:
Blog Troll: Hey you, you idiot with a blog that, while it belongs to you and you pay for it, annoy me because you write what you feel like and give your own opinions instead of pandering to me and my stupid opinions… where do you live so I can come stalk you and harass you and scare the heck out of your children.
Fracas: Oh, that’s easy… I live in Argleton!
Blog Troll: Thanks. I’ll be over next Friday. Make sure you leave the back door open and the kitchen drawer stocked with sharp knives and stuff.
Fracas: Gotcha!
Or how about…
Fool who thinks I’m raking it in like Dooce: Hello my dear. I’m a big fan and I’d like to come over to rob you blind of all your precious art and jewels and stuff get your autograph. Where exactly do you live again? I can’t remember where you wrote that on your blog…
Fracas: Oh, I surely am famous enough for that… come on over, I live in Argleton. Yes… Argleton!
Fool who thinks I’m raking it in like Dooce: Righto… I’m looking forward to getting your stuff John Henry…
Fracas: Of course you are…
And then there’s…
Facebook Dude: You know me… I sent you a friend request because a friend of a friend of a friend of a friend of mine knows you. You didn’t add me. I’m sure you want me to come over to your house so you can have ‘coffee’ with me and pay for being a snobby bitch who didn’t add me re-aquaint yourself with me…
Fracas: Of course, why wouldn’t I want to invite over a friend of a friend of a friend of a friend of a friend? I’m sure it’s safe and all… and just to show you how much I trust you, why don’t you come over when my kids are at home too? I’m sure you’re trustworthy! I live in Argleton… totally. It’s really easy to find… just look for the signs!
You see?
The Cause (and it’s a very good one):
So please, help me convince Google not to wipe Argleton from the map because otherwise, how will these people find me if they do? Others are just as upset about it as I am…
I’m not asking for much… all you have to do is leave a comment to this post, asking them to please leave Argleton on the map. I’ll do all the work after that. After all… you might have to ‘move’ to Argleton at some point in your life too. Won’t that be easier if it’s on the map?
I thank you sincerely!
UPDATE:
Update 1: It seems the campaign to save Argleton has some help. Since this post went up, our campaign has been linked to by this website, and written about by Joe Moran over at the guardian.co.uk, bringing additional traffic and attention to the cause. Moran’s article is particularly interesting, so do check it out.
Update 2: The German website tagesschau.de has also written about the campaign, comparing Argleton to Bielefeld. Fraccers is receiving a fair amount of traffic from the site and would like to thank them for the mention and say hello to all their readers who have come by to visit and leave comments! Merci!
Update 3: Another mention of our Save Argleton campaign has been found. Rick Steele of the Yukon News has mentioned us (though with no link…) in his article as a whimsy-prone element on the net. Verbatim:
Tele Atlas has announced that it will soon be removing Argleton from the offending map – an announcement that has, predictably, occasioned a “Save Argleton” movement campaign among the more whimsy-prone elements on the internet.
I will give his article a link back… but only because it’s such a whimsical thing to do.
If you learn of other mentions of our campaign, or have made one yourself, do leave us a comment so we can add a link to you too!
Textual addresses for:
Original article: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/google/6474746/Mystery-of-Argleton-the-Google-town-that-only-exists-online.html
Update link #1: http://retecool.com/post/welcome-to-argleton
Update link #2: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/nov/30/argleton-google-earth-maps-streetview
Update link #3: http://tagesschau.de/schlusslicht/argleton104.html
Update link #4: http://www.yukon-news.com/opinions/columns/15282/#
Holy Hell. I’m moving to Argleton!
Please leave Argleton on the map.
After all, I would hate to lose my Fraccy neighbour & someone else move into her house! What would I do then?
Thanks
<3 ya
[...] en hier vind je meer informatie over het spookstadje. Dus. Update via Retecool: inmiddels is er een actiegroep om de stad van de ondergang te redden en er zijn ook al reisverslagen naar Argleton te vinden op [...]
what ever next if you surf a wee bit south east of here is where I live… blimey it could be my homestead next .. arghhhh
Mark – It’s exactly what I thought. The perfect solution!
gottabkd – Thanks. Those google map folks need to think twice about this.
Google spookstad – Yay… a real link at a foreign language blog.
70steen – They’d better not wipe you off the map sis… but if they try, we’ll fight ‘em together!
We need to save Argleton,
I have a PO box there
[...] Edge Hill University are the modern-day Marco Polos who unconcealed it, and there is today a “save Argleton” crusade on the scheme which is urging Google not to precise the [...]
My quiet little fiefdom is in danger of being overrun! We have a strict immigration policy, and if you don’t meet those criteria you can expect to be glared at with suspicion and a hush to fall over any room you enter. At least National Grid aren’t trying to hoist dirty great pylons over it this time.
I left my heart in Arglton,
it’s sweping fields,
Are where my soul has gone,
To lie beneath it’s lofty trees.
Argleton, town of dreams,
From it’s marching bands
to it’s football teams
These are the people of the land.
Listen not when Google declare,
This town of towns
Is simply not there
Arglteon is in our hearts and minds
Even if not in postcode L39
Dusty – That would be tragic for sure! How would I ever send you that jam I’ve been such a deadbeat about?
We-found-it – Yay… bring on the troops. A pingback from someone who found our little campaign!
Jon Argles – I’m quite sure we’re the kind of folks you want to allow into your little fiefdom. We love to promote boobs, gingernuts and nonsense, and we even have some avid tea-drinkers. Some of us are happy to be kept in sheds or cupboards… we’re hardly a bother. Why, you might actually consider nominating one or two of us for citizen of the year.
Argletonian – Brought a tear to mine eye. I must introduce you to a fellow poet. I’m sure you’ll get along famously.
http://www.daddypapersurfer.com/recessive-jean/
Hi there,
my name is Friedrich and Argelton is the English twin city of my German hometown.
Please save Argleton!!!!
Friedrich
hey there,
they can’t take Argleton off the map now – I mean it has even been mentioned on the german news now!!!
http://www.tagesschau.de/schlusslicht/argleton104.html
My Argleton is my castle!!!
In case you get tired of life in Argleton, UK, you can always move to Bielefeld, Germany. That doesn’t exist, either.
http://www.tagesschau.de/schlusslicht/meldung210850.html
Friedrich – Thank you for stopping to add yours to the campaign!
Nadja – In numbers, there is strength! Thanks for sharing the link, I’ll check it out too!
Hanni – I’d like to visit someday.
Schamansky – Really? I must check it out. I will remember that. Perhaps I could have a summer home in Bielefeld?
Hey, i am from Bielefeld, Germany.
It does exist, just like Argleton.
@Fabian – Ok now really have to get over there to see for myself… you folks are making this interesting!
Argleton is a thriving village in West Central Lancashire. It must not be destroyed.
http://www.argleton-village.co.uk
John, how might I go about being awarded the prestigious Order of the Ferret (OF)?
Just asking. Glad to see it’s been years since the ferret foot rot debacle.
I’m saving for another trip over… hope to see you soon.
has anyone already suggested simply to found a real village at that place and calling it Argleton? That sure would help keeping it on Google Maps.
I think some folks have thought of that. For now, the Argleton currently on the map suits my needs a tad better.
[...] I’m moving to Argleton. [...]
I can see Argleton from my bedroom window. I am hoping it turns out to be West Lancashire’s answer to Brigadoon, and that one day I will wake up to find kilted Scots-people dancing round the market cross, singing about bonny Jean’s weddin’ day. You never know!
Really? From your bedroom window? Oh, how I envy you!