Thank you so much for the congratulations!
I completely agree with your point. Reaching Level 10 is definitely heavily tied to the area you live in. I’ve heard that in the US, Google Maps is highly integrated and has a very active community of Local Guides.
In relation to this, there are a few insights I’d love to share about Google Maps and the unique mapping system characteristics here in South Korea. Korea is quite a unique case, so it cannot be easily generalized, and some parts might not fully align with the US examples inferred from your experience. However, I want to share my thoughts on why this was possible, how the opportunity for Level 10 is closely tied to specific regional traits, and how I achieved this milestone in such an extremely short period—essentially in just 22 days.
South Korea underwent a complete overhaul of its address system back in the 2010s. However, this system didn’t fully settle down until the 2020s. For a considerably long time, the country’s address system was in a state of chaos. It wasn’t just a matter of changing addresses; the core system itself shifted. As a result, it was an incredibly confusing period with some people using old addresses, others using the new ones, and some even blending the two to create their own makeshift variations. It was only in the 2020s that things finally got sorted out and the new address system became fully established.
On top of that, during the COVID-19 pandemic (2020–2021), countless businesses changed their hours or closed down, while delivery-only businesses suddenly skyrocketed. Then in 2022, a massive wave of business closures and new openings followed. These compounding situations created a worst-case scenario where errors popped up all over every mapping system in Korea.
Even during this chaotic period for map systems (2022–2023), Google Maps did not take any special measures or updates for the South Korea region. As a result, countless places were left neglected, registered under outdated address formats. Around this time, the number of Google Maps users in Korea dropped drastically. Currently, almost every single Korean uses either Naver Maps or KakaoMap—to the point where it’s safe to say “all Koreans” use them.
Before 2020, the number of Google Maps users in Korea was actually non-negligible. In fact, Google Maps boasted excellent data accuracy around security-sensitive zones and nearby areas that couldn’t be properly displayed on domestic Korean maps. Because of this, many users utilized multiple map apps depending on their needs. However, during that period, the Korean address system itself was still in near-total chaos.
Once the new address system finally settled in the 2020s, the lack of special measures by Google Maps during the highly chaotic 2022–2023 period caused the remaining dual-users to completely migrate over to Naver Maps and KakaoMap.
Consequently, Google Maps in Korea fell into a state where the entire country desperately needed corrections, but there was practically no one left to make them—not even in Seoul, the capital city.
However, an interesting discovery I made during this experience was that you can’t just assume rural areas will automatically have a ton of edits available. In fact, some rural spots were in relatively decent shape.
Based on my analysis, this phenomenon occurs due to a specific reason.
While I agree that the level of Google Maps activity is a major variable, it doesn’t create the difference all by itself. More precisely, it depends on how strongly three elements align: the platform’s activity level, the velocity and volume of geographic change, and the timing.
For example, rural areas have low Google Maps activity. However, because the velocity and volume of change are also low, once someone properly corrects a POI, that corrected information tends to stay accurate for a very long time. Therefore, if the POIs have already been properly updated by someone, rural areas actually end up having far fewer things to touch compared to urban areas, where the velocity and volume of change are much higher. While the Google Maps system doesn’t show when the last edit occurred, if edits to the geographical information have only recently taken place, a rural area could actually be at a major disadvantage.
Additionally, one thing I felt very clearly during this editing process was that the barrier to getting edits approved was much lower when information already existed elsewhere on the internet. Even if the data was completely missing or incorrect on Google Maps, if Gemini already knew the correct information through internet searches and training data, the approval barrier was significantly lower. Of course, places with many recent reviews had a higher barrier for passing the edit review process (though in Korea, even places with plenty of recent reviews often had missing or incorrect data), but otherwise, urban areas were actually more advantageous. Information on rural areas is naturally scarcer on the internet compared to urban areas, and this seemed to heavily impact the review process. While this is just based on my personal experience, I definitely noticed this pattern a lot.
Since this is a rather extreme case unique to South Korea, my answer might differ from the conclusions you drew from your own experience. Still, I hope you find it to be an interesting story. (I’m in no position to say whether your thoughts are right or wrong! I have only dealt with Korean maps, and my only indirect knowledge of the US Google Maps situation is that it is highly active with a very vibrant Local Guides community. This alone shows that Korea and the US are completely contrasting cases.)
I don’t know how to add roads to Google Maps just yet. However, I’d love to try it if I get the chance. It sounds like it would be fun and rewarding. There are probably quite a few things that need fixing on Korea’s Google Maps in that regard as well, and the road editing side might operate on an entirely different mechanism.
Thank you once again for the congratulations! Have a wonderful May!
