One minute he’s in Russia – the next he’s set up shop inside The White House. This Edward Snowden sure is a character.
If you check out the White House on Google Maps right now, you’ll see an interesting listing nestled between the Rose Garden and the Jacqueline Kennedy Garden. Tucked inside the front of the Presidential home is a shop called “Edwards Snow Den”.
Is the NSA whistleblower hiding in plain sight?
Edwards Snow Den, according to its Google+ page, is a snowboard shop located at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Washington, District of Columbia 20500. The phone number listed is for area code (206), which is Seattle, Washington.
Ok, so what happened here?
Someone pulled a prank, of course.
Google told Marketing Land:
Google says that a user gamed its system by altering a verified Google business description after it was live on Google Maps. It said the vast majority of edits are positive in nature but a few bad actors do get through. It said this listing has now been removed, though it’s still showing up for me, at the moment. No doubt it will disappear shortly.
And it’s pretty easy to game the system and prank Google Maps, once you have a verified listing. Just a few steps over, in the West Wing, there’s a listing for an “CCross law firm” – a business which most certainly does not exists inside the White House.
It’s clear that Google is taking steps to remove Edwards Snow Den from the premises. The shop is no longer verified and its comical reviews – things like “Top notch info on the cheap” and “I felt so exposed, 10/10 would NSA again – are gone. But as of right now, you can still see Edwards Snow Den inside the White House.