I take a lot of care and time when drawing my edits. I have mapped entire towns and cities, correcting segment geometries and adding unmapped roads and paths.In 2023 I made a total of 14,374 edits and 10,364 were approved.
Those 4,000 unapproved edits represent a not insignificant chunk of my life in 2023.
Here is just one recent example of an edit made on 16 January this year and rejected today
I can see no reason why it might have been rejected. The paths are visible in the aerial photography, and I have personally added every path segment in that town over the past 3 years.
It is really hard to know why this happen and why there is this “3 month windows”.
I’m registering all my edit since the 6th of October and, from that day, I lost more than 8 thousand roads.
From my experience, in some case like yours, even if we see the path, it is to dark or in the shadow or partially covered by trees that the AI is not able to follow our suggestion. But looking at the actual situation it is easy to understand why the path on the left is approved and not the one you were working on.
But, at the opposite, some times is difficult to understand why they have rejected our edit. And, worst, is why our edits are under a “90 days” of approval period. If not approved/declined in that time they will be deleted.
Sometimes I look at my edit under “not approved” and try to look for the road and re-draw. Happens that they approve it.
Sure that AI will improve but, till that moment, we have to keep going on. Even if there are days really frustrating. (not mentioning the Ooops Error)
I’m.happy that 2 of our prominent TRAC members have replied you already. They are very experienced and very active when it comes to drawing roads on Google maps. By the way I think I remember your participation at some point in TRAC right?
Anyway my advises regarding this is;
Most of our edits and edit works on Google maps are approved/rejected by AI therefore please don’t take it personal. Especially when your edit is rejected. Don’t feel bad.
I always believe in the 1st rudimental check of adding/drawing a road. If its not very clear to the AI dont draw it. No matter how technically clear to you as a person it might be rejected.
Adding bit by bit and connecting them to an existing road is advised. What I mean is mapping a whole chunk at a go might get turned down. Add a little to an existing one and wait till its approved before adding more in an area.
I dare say most of us that are very active on roads can hardly give you a clear cut answer on logics surrounding roads approvals or rejections. Wish we could. We keep learning on the job.
Lastly please don’t get agitated or frustrated over these. Do your best and leave the rest. Don’t spoil the fun on yourself because at the end of the day we are volunteers. Have fun so…
Congratulations on your 10k approved roads by the way. Not many local guides have that achievement.
Thanks @MarcoDavoli , I appreciate i’m not the only person encountering these inconsistencies. The question in the title is rhetorical really, and more intended to highlight this issue to Google rather than an attempt at getting an answer from the forum. There isn’t a great deal any one of us can say about this with any certainty as in the absence of any information from Google we are all merely guessing at potential reasons and rationales behind edit outcomes.
My personal frustration is born of the fact I’m now in my 12th year of contributing to Google Maps. When I first started editing you had to apply to be allowed access to Google Map Maker (as it was then called). As a result of my contributions there I was invited, and subsequently accepted, by Google to become a Regional Lead.
So I have actually seen the ‘behind the scenes’ part we don’t get to see now as ‘Local Guides’. I reviewed and approved edits. I’ve seen first hand how edits are queued for review, and how the majority of edits a reviewed by actual people. The algorithm that auto rejects and queues edits isn’t as sophisticated as some might give it credit for - if it was then Google wouldn’t need us to add and edit road segments.
Which brings me to @SholaIB undoubtedly well-meaning comments. I know how to draw the map. I know the criteria for determining and approving edits. I also know that algorithms (there is no AI involved) don’t edit and redraw submitted edits. Humans do. I also know that complexity is not a determining factor as I have had much more complex edits approved, as you can see if I zoom out of the example I gave in my initial post (I have drawn or edited every path segment you can see here)
I appreciate your encouragement but it is a little tone-deaf to side-step the very real frustration I - and I suspect others - rightly feel. I had more than 10k approved roads when Map Maker closed and none of them were carried over into the Local Guide program. I have also approved 100k+ roads, and helped many people improve their edits in order to get them approved. None of that is reflected in my current stats. I spend hours of my time meticulously drawing, and editing poorly drawn, roads only to have half of the rejected with no given reason. I have spent the past three years trying to map this town (and others) and still it remains incomplete and fragmented. Previously I would have been able to map the entire town within a week.
I’m not looking for a pat on the back, I do this completely anonymously, and only because I care. No other reason. But editing Google Maps increasingly feels like a waste of my time, I thought Google might like to know that rather than not.
I just stumbled on this thread while searching for something else @OssianLore. I understand your frustration, as I too was active on the old Google Map Maker program. When it closed I was quite disappointed, but then there was this promise of potentially re-opening with Regional Leads as you obviously had become, but that never occurred, and my country never re-opened for mapping. The current system is a disappointment, as there are times when I obviously know the area better than anyone else, but still have to wait to be Approved or more likely, Not Approved.
