18 May 2008
DSA’S ALB, AST, DVR, GATOS, LAD, LVD, MV, OC, PASA, PTLD, SAC, SD, SEA, SFO, SNC,
STB, STL, TC D/CO EXTERNAL OSAWUS RE: GOOGLE MAPS Dear All, Google Maps is a website on the internet at
which provides maps for most areas of the world, including information about landmarks and other points of interest. More than a year ago the addresses of all churches and missions of Scientology were added in Google Maps to make it easy for people to find us. In February 2008, however, Google added a new function which is that EVERYONE can change the address information or add to it. In the past 2 weeks members of the group "Anonymous" have changed these addresses in various ways, e.g. from "Church of Scientology" into "Cult of Scientology". We are working with Google to get all Scientology-related addresses corrected and the edit function removed from them. However, what is needed is that you take ownership and correct the addresses for your own area right now. Per HCO PL PR Series 18 the first step is to fill the vacuum with true data. The vandalized addresses on Google Maps are a continuous piece of Black PR and need to be handled immediately. Google provides an easy way to do this but it can only be done by the corporation located at the actual address. Below are the steps to take. It is needed that you get this done today and report back exactly what you did.
1. If you do not have an account with Google yet, register your Church email address here: https://www.google.com/accounts/NewAccount 2. Now go to Google Maps: http://maps.google.com
3. Type in your org's address and find it on the map. 4. Click on the address entry (left column). Your org address will show in a box on the map. 5. Click "Edit" in that box. New text will appear in the box. 6. Click on "Claim your business". 7. Google Maps now asks a series of questions. Fill in the correct data about the address. Note on the phone number given for your org: This phone number will be called by Google Maps to verify your address. Please keep in mind that you have to be near that phone in a couple of minutes. 8. Complete the verification as shown on the screen. Click on "Call me now". The phone call is done by a robot asking you to punch in the code you see on the screen so please make sure your org reception puts the call through right away or be at reception to finish the cycle. You will have to punch in a 4 letter code and the robot will hang up. 9. Report back that your org's address is now verified and can't be changed. If you run in any trouble please send an email to the CSI Internet Unit at
for technical guidance.
Get these steps done and report back today.
DSA’s ALB, AST, DVR, LAD, STL . PHX, DALLAS, SLC, INGLE, VLY and K
C have been sent these directions. Please check with the HES in each of these orgs to make sure that the actions have been done. Also contact each of your missions and get them to handle in the same way. In your report back, include the list of missions that are now handled. ML, Pam D/CO External OSAWUS