Has Google lost your address? Now you can help it find you.

The Mountain View, Calif., search giant now is letting users edit the errors found in its online mapping product.

“Sometimes, a location can be a little off on a map and your friends can’t find you,” the company explained in a video posted on YouTube by software engineer Seth LaForge. “Now you can fix that.”

The move comes as Google grapples with opening more of its operations to outsiders. Once notoriously closed and secretive, the company is increasingly seeking to turn itself into a platform for other businesses.

To be successful, the ambitious endeavor will require contributions from people around the world, ranging from software developers who write new applications to owners of mom-and-pop businesses who enter information on the site about their operation.

“There are multiple reasons that Google is doing this and one of them is to clean up and improve the quality of the data,” said Greg Sterling, an analyst with Sterling Market Research.

To edit Google Maps, a person needs a Google account. If someone sees an error while searching for a business, he or she can click an “edit” link.

Google said it will prevent abuse by restricting changes to certain listings, like hospitals, police stations and schools, as well as the addresses of businesses that have claimed their listing online at Google’s Local Business Center. Edited addresses will be clearly marked, and links to original address markings will be retained.

Users also can report abuse. Certain edits, such as moving a marker more than 200 yards, must be reviewed by a Google employee.

By making maps more useful, Google is trying to capture a larger share of the dollars spent on online Yellow Page advertising and local searches.