I’ve been mapping and contributing for a while, and I’ve noticed something that keeps happening—especially with big malls like Aeon Mall Mean Chey This happens in many locations — Aeon Sen Sok, Sorya, Chip Mong, Midtown, etc.
Doesn’t always let me pin the location correctly inside the mall
Sometimes rejects the place even after multiple tries
Makes it hard for users to find the exact shop they’re looking for
For example, I’ve tried adding or updating listings with the correct name, category, and clear photos, but many still don’t get approved or are displayed in the wrong place (outside the building or in a weird location).
It’s especially frustrating when users or tourists rely on Google Maps to find these stores, only to be disappointed because they’re missing or misplaced.
So I want to ask:
Has anyone else faced this issue when adding stores inside malls?
Is this a known limitation or something with the indoor mapping system?
What’s your experience with adding places inside buildings like malls, airports, or big shopping centers?
Would love to hear your thoughts. Let’s make it easier for people to find real places in real spaces.
@SophatCHY I have… Specially medium sized trademarked businesses won’t allow me to add them to the map. Unfortunately I haven’t found a solution for that either, so in the end I decided just to try once and let it go if it doesn’t work
Thanks so much for sharing, @cuicani! Yes, I feel the same. Some trademarked or chain businesses located inside malls can be very challenging to add. I also try once or twice, and if it doesn’t work, I move on, too.
It’s good to know I’m not alone in this. Let’s hope Google makes it easier one day!
You might not be aware of indoor Maps. Unfortunately, they are not yet available in all countries as explained here. And they are not yet available in your country.
Local guides cannot add or edit indoor Maps that are typically used in airports, shopping centers, stadiums, and transit centers.
Try finding one on maps, and you will see the individual walls inside and there is a special icon to select between the different floors. You need to zoom in to see the indoor Map.
This allows for indoor navigation and is really helpful in my opinion. The backside is that we cannot add and edit the places inside and indoor Map. Only the owners or shopping center managers can. And often they are not up to speed when it comes to updating their indoor Map.
In those cases you will need to reach out to them and suggest/request they fix issues.
When there is no indoor Map the situation is parallel to all other places with a lot of places close together. You can add and edit places if you have a sufficient trust score.
But some chain stores think they always knows better so the regularly overwrites all edits made by users by reuploading their data to Google Maps.
If you want further discussions on this please share specific examples.
You may need to seek help in the Maps Support Forum where staff with more editing power can be reached.
Thank you for the detailed explanation. Yes, now I understand clearly that Indoor Maps are not yet supported in Cambodia. I also checked the list, and Cambodia is not there. Hopefully, in the future, Google will expand this feature to our country. It would significantly improve accuracy in large malls or public buildings.
I’m also wondering—is there anything I can do from my side to help bring Indoor Maps to Cambodia? I read that only building owners or managers can submit their floor plans to Google here: Indoor Maps – About – Google Maps
Do you think it would help if I try to raise awareness with local mall owners or propose something to government partners? I also submitted feedback through the Maps app to request this feature. If more of us do that, maybe Google will consider it.
First you nedd to have a plan on how to reach the relevant team at Google or some higher ups in Google.
Then you need to create some pressure / outrage / demand by those who would like to use indoor maps in Cambodia. This is what good journalists do everyday. So maybe you know a relevant news outlet (preferably one targeting those shopping malls) or maybe they have a trade organization. Talk to them and explain the situation. Maybe they would like to run a story on this.
In my experience, critical press is something Google is more likely to react to rather than sending in-app feed back repeatedly.
@SophatCHY one more things to complement the elaborate explanation @MortenCopenhagen already gave: The fact that pins show at a seemingly random location outside the shopping mall is something I know very well. Usually this is linked to the location of the pin that belongs to the official address of the mall.
In a shopping mall near to my place, the pin location for the address is just outside the mall, next to a gas station. When a new business opens in the mall and it belongs to a chain, the pin for that new shop is often next to the gas station. So what I regularly do is check that gas station for extra pins and then move those to the correct location (either based on a visit, or from the info on the mall website) - in a number of cases, as @MortenCopenhagen already said, some of those edits will be reverted when the chain uploads a list of their shops to Maps (which then has the official mall address, causing the shop pin to be moved to the address pin location [sigh]).
Now I understand the bigger picture. It’s not just a technical issue; it’s also about how Google handles addresses and bulk uploads from chains. The part about the pin being linked to the mall’s official address or nearby landmarks really explains what I’ve seen here, too.
I also appreciate the advice about taking this issue further, possibly through local media or trade groups that are concerned about improving digital tools in Cambodia. I’ll start exploring that and also try some of your practical suggestions, like moving pins based on official mall listings.
I’m happy to hear I’m not the only one facing this. Thank you again for the support, it gives me the motivation to continue contributing and raising awareness about this issue.
@SophatCHY if you want an extra opportunity to make some ‘noise’ about that, please consider submitting 1 or 2 audio clips for my next podcast episode.
Thank you so much @JanVanHaver for thinking of me!
I’m really happy to join, but honestly, I’m not confident with my English speaking. I’m not sure if I can do it well for a podcast. Do you have any suggestion for someone like me?
Bisher ist mir an Einkaufszentren nur aufgefallen das Geschäfte außerhalb angezeigt werden und diese habe ich in das Zentrum verschoben @SophatCHY
Ich war mir der ganzen Problematik nicht bewusst und finde die ganzen Informationen sehr hilfreich und interessant @MortenCopenhagen@JanVanHaver
