Beijing Artist Outsmarts Google Maps, Gets Road Named After Him

A Chinese artist pulled off an impressive prank in 2013 when he tricked Google Maps into naming a road after him. Ge Yulu, a Beijing-based artist, discovered that a street in the Chaoyang district lacked a sign due to a rezoning mix-up.

Ge Yulu decided to take matters into his own hands and put up a sign naming the street 'Ge Yu Lu,' which made sense to locals since 'Lu' means 'road' in Chinese. His guerilla art was so effective that by 2015, the new name had ended up in official records and map listings, including Google Maps.

The mistake went undetected for two years until signs were finally removed in 2017. While it's unclear why all mapping apps failed to catch the error, it seems that there are several ways to add or rename elements on a mapping app, including user contributions and government name changes.