Best way to upload Photos to Google Maps

This is the best way that it’s become my standard while reviewing and publishing pictures on Google maps. This guide is not about the type or quality of the picture but more so how to upload them. Allow me to explain:

I have noticed looking at my statistics on Google maps, that most of the photos that are top 10 most viewed are pictures of places of which I have not made a review. Then I wondered, would it be because I take many pictures of places I have not entered and upload them and I review less places than I photograph, or is it because the algorithm takes them differently.

After giving it some thought I came to the conclusion that some pictures are better to be included within a review and others to be uploaded separately. Anyways sometimes is too much if you have too many pictures linked to a review.

The standard that I have set for myself and I am gladly sharing with you all today is this. Share within the review the pictures that are most relevant to the review. For example, if you’re in a restaurant you can annex a picture of the plate you mention with the review, and if you took a picture of a 5 foot whole in the ceiling and you mention it within the review it is appropriate to upload it with the review.

On the other hand, pictures of the outside of a place ( the front) and maybe environment ( I leave this one up to the particular circumstance) you upload them separate from your review, on the add pictures of the place. I do this too when I’ve taken 2 pictures of the same plate and both are very good and in different angles, I often upload the second one separate from the review itself. As well as pictures of drinks and the menu, though if you’re in a Starbucks or coffee place putting the drink within the review is important, so use your own judgement to decide when it’s the most appropriate.

I hope you find this little guide helpful. It’s just my opinion and how I’ve lived Google maps local guides, I appreciate if you all share your own tips and ideas in the comments. And don’t forget to mention me so I can reply or if you have any questions about the post.

Next I will be putting some examples:

On the picture above is a sample review with a picture of the plate I mentioned (Hummus & Pita) attached to the review.

On this picture you can see I’m uploading secondary pictures of the place, that are not 100% necessarily directly related to the review but are important for the public to be able to see the place while browsing.

Uploading separately a picture of a drink that I did not mention in my review, and putting it on the menu.

Receiving points for uploading pictures ( 8 photos) of the place separate from the review.

Thank you so much for reading. Can’t wait to read your comments!

-Mario Rosas

--------Edit--------

After reviewing the comments that you guys have pointed out I checked the app and realized that indeed things have changed. Thank you @JeroenM .

I have came to the conclusion that my opinion was affected by an old idea of how things used to be and confirmation bias. Thank you all so much for letting me know the updated information.

Thanks everyone.

@Raphael-Mahumane

@MortenCopenhagen

@C_T

17 Likes

Hi @mariorosas

Thank you for taking the time to share your experience with uploading pictures to places connected to a review or not.

I’m using Android and it’s my experience that if I upload some pictures before writing the review, then all my pictures uploaded to this place/business will automatically be linked to my review. I can not decide whether my photos or only some of them get linked to my review. They all do. Also, if I add an extra photo to a place that I previously reviewed, then the new picture is automatically added to the review. Whether I like it or not. So I’m a little puzzled with your clear destination between adding pictures to a review or just the place. I believe there is a maximum of 20 pictures shown next to a review. but you can upload more than 20 pictures to one place.

You can for sure upload pictures while submitting a review OR you can upload pictures directly to a place. But I think they are treated in exactly the same way.

I would love to hear from you.

All the best

4 Likes

Hello @mariorosas

I agree with the comment entered by @MortenCopenhagen
The moment I include a review to a place, all the related pics get attached to that. That is irrespective of the chronology of upload.
About the view count, the following are my observations.

The number of likes doesn’t influence the ranking.

Pictures of restaurants captured while empty, rise to the top faster. Possibly, more stress is there on privacy.

Photo of the frontage of a shop, if that contains some useful information, receives a better ranking.

5 Likes

Hi @mariorosas thank you for sharing your experience with us, being open and sharing with others it enables you to learn and also help others learn from you too. I will agree with the above reply from @C_T and @MortenCopenhagen . Reviews and photos from your contribution get grouped together, and about photo views it depend on many factors, normally it can be the quality of your photo, another thing can be that the photos were added first before others and that can make your photo to be featured as the main photo of the place or the second main photo of the place and that will generate more photo views for you on those particular photos.

Another factor may be the location in which a business you contributed to is located, if it is located on a busy place or a city, country where customers of that place are using Google Maps more often and they are always connected to the internet or Google Maps. This post will give you more insight on What photos should I share on Google Maps? I hope this will give some light on this topic on another angle. Cheers!

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Hi @mariorosas ,

I find your approach making a lot of sense and often in the back of my mind I made the same type of decisions. My contributed photos to a place that were not uploaded with my review, would not show with my review. But more recently, I got the impression that Google has changed the way it is showing pictures, which explains the response by @MortenCopenhagen , @C_T and @Raphael-Mahumane .

Have you not noticed a change @mariorosas ?

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@JeroenM Yes, I didn’t pay attention. Thank you so much!!! I will edit my post

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Dear @mariorosas ,

Had things not changed recently inside the App, your post about how to split photo-contributions would have been an excellent tip.

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