Do you know that too? I regularly create new places with short descriptions and photos and then write a review about them. The places are approved by Google and the reviews are also published.
A few weeks or months later, I receive an email from Google informing me that my review is no longer published because the place has been deleted. No further explanation.
Frustrating.
I suspect that other Google Maps users are deleting some of the places I have created.
The places I create are often specific tips for other boaters, such as beautiful moorings.
It’s possible that some people don’t like it when these places are suddenly publicly available on Google Maps and delete them again. Just a guess.
Has anyone here had experience of similar incidents?
Maybe we should focus on the categories you are using to create the new places. If you use a wrong category it could be a problem. And do you know that Google uses the list of categories to guide us on what places we can add and which ones we should not add?
Please read
If you mistakenly add a place that is not entitled to a pin on Google Maps it is correct to remove it.
It could also be bad actors who do not like the places and mistakenly remove them.
Feel free to share a few examples.
You said you add some description. Where do you add that? Are you creating the new places as the owner of them (your business)?
Bridges over rivers (RhĂ´ne etc.) / Category: Bridge
Places of interest along rivers (castles etc.). / Category: Sights
Old locks on the canals / Category: Historical sight
Moorings for boats / Category: Marina (I couldn’t find a better category here.) Some of these are simple floating pontoons for just one or two boats)
My added places never had anything to do with business, military or other special things.
Real examples:
47.44128086233048, 6.628369903387169 / Here you will find a wonderful long pontoon which is officially called “Halte Fluvial” (means stop for boats). Here I have added a place called “Halte Fluvial / Saint-Maurice-Colombie”, category: Marina and photos.
The place was published. Then I wrote a review about it with more photos. It was also published.
Two weeks later the place was removed …
46.102480694366044, 4.7620153577380595 / Here you will find a bridge over the river Saône. Also here I added a place called “Pont de Belleville-sur-Saône” (official name), category: bridge and photos.
The place was also published. Also here I wrote a review with more photos. It was also published.
A few months later the place was removed …
I have no idea why these (and about 20 other) places were deleted. My only idea: someone doesn’t like my places. But is it really that easy to delete places created by others? Doesn’t Google’s algorithm intervene?
Thank you in advance for any further help, ideas, opinions, …
Adding canal locks as historic sites is an example of my point. As locks are not on the list of categories it should not be added. Removing it was correct.
Bridges can be tricky because it is often considered a geographical feature and not a normal place. But you might be lucky to get a bridge to stick
The category Sights is not the right choice for a castle.
Also, using Marina for a simple pontoon is not correct. When the correct/specific/precise category is not available this is a sign to not add such places.
Think about it this way: new places need to be of interest to a lot of people and we can only add places that are on the list of categories.
Creative use of categories will likely not make a place stick for long.
It is not unusual that places get accepted and disappear within weeks or months if not eligible for a pin on Maps.
Early in my LG career I also faced this challenge.
Too bad, the boating community is very large from my personal point of view.
Several thousand private owner-operated boats travel the waterways of France (more than 7,000 km). Thousands rent a boat to discover the landscape and sights. Large hotel ships (> 100 passengers) transport thousands of passengers through the wonderful regions every year.
Those waterways have a history of up to 300 years. Many were initiated by Napoleon Bonaparte and we can still navigate locks that are over 200 years old.
But there are also very interesting new constructions which make it possible to transport goods to Lyon, Paris and many other inland cities with modern cargo ships of up to 180 m in length and a load weight of up to 5000 tons.
I had hoped to be able to pass on interesting information to interested people via Maps entries, see for example the entry “Pont Marguerite Boucicaut” / https://maps.app.goo.gl/5Zn7gryUpbXtE73z7 .
Many of my entries have hundreds of views, several photos have over 5,000 views in just a few months.
Thanks to your explanations, I now know that Google Maps is obviously not interested in this kind of information. I’ve also noticed myself that a short entry and a photo of a pizza attracts more attention than an exciting construction with an interesting history.
Too bad. Humanity is not moving in a good direction …
Thanks again to you and your commitment, the world needs people like you.
