I want to raise one more topic, based on my experience as an active contributor.
Local Guides Connect is a great community platform for sharing stories, photos, meetups, and learning from each other. But when it comes to real Google Maps issues — such as:
- Place creation is not working
- Fake locations
- Mapping errors
- Technical bugs
- AI rejecting correct edits
— The community cannot help much, because we don’t have access to the people who handle the technical side of Google Maps.
Most of the time, community members can only say:
“Please use the Help Center.”
“Please report through the app.”
“We cannot escalate technical issues.”
But the Help Center does not solve many of the deeper problems we face on the map, especially in countries like Cambodia where we have:
- Border province harassment
- Thousands of fake listings
- Heavy AI rejection for real edits
- New business listings blocked
- Street View updates needed
We have a very active Local Guides Community in Cambodia (and many other countries), and we contribute every day to improve the map. But we don’t have any direct communication or technical escalation channel to Google Maps teams.
My suggestion
It would be very helpful if Google could create:
A technical escalation team / support group for Local Guides Connect, where trusted or active contributors can report real map issues, not only user-level questions.
This could be:
- A special community moderator trained in Google Maps technical issues
- A direct escalation form for problematic edits
- A review channel for fake location outbreaks
- A contact point when AI repeatedly rejects correct places
This will help Google Maps and also motivate the Local Guides who spend their time improving the map.
Why this matters
Local Guides Connect is built for supporting Google Maps.
But right now, for many deeper issues, we get redirected to Help Center — and nothing more happens.
We want to help Google — but we also need a system that helps us back.
I share this suggestion with good intention and respect for the platform.
I hope in the future Google considers giving Local Guides Connect a stronger role in technical reporting.