[y4mi]

> totally unfounded guess: that's how Google does it

I'm pretty sure Google doesn't do that. At least not as the primary information source.

I don't work for Google, so I could be mistaken, but I've provided several information updates before. Google gave me the "local guide" after my first accepted update and gave me gamified incentives to update and verify local information about businesses afterwards until I disabled them again. (Like notifications when I'm at a store to verify if there is a parking lot and things regarding to disabilities etc).

The questions are usually really innocuous and quick to answer, which pretty much makes the player into free labor for Google, one minute at a time.

I was required to provide some proof on some information like opening times and that's probably how they're linking back to the official website. But it happens through user input not automated scraping i believe.