Search Engine Roundtable has an interesting post by Barry Schwartz about how Google Maps makes it easy for anyone to edit a business listing to say that it has closed permanently. I knew that Circuit City will shut its doors forever tomorrow and I looked for one that had already been marked “Place Closed” in Google Maps. No, that wasn’t me, as it seems that someone at Google has to approve these submissions. Read Barry’s article for a full account of how this happens. The problem shouldn’t worry anyone who has claimed their entry, but unclaimed entries without a point of contact may make it impossible for Google to check with the business owner. As this news spreads, I expect the feature’s process to be tightened up.