“Local Guides is a global community of explorers who write reviews, share photos, answer questions, add or edit places, and check facts on Google Maps” (from: Overview)
We are volunteers, and choosing to participate in the program does not change our possibility of using Google Maps.
However, more and more often I read posts in which some Local Guides write suggesting that Local Guides be paid, that is, they receive an economic reward for their contributions in Google Maps. Personally I am against it, and I believe that the goodness of our content is linked to the fact that, since we are not paid, we are free to share real information.
But for a moment I tried to imagine a version of Google Maps in which our contributions were financially rewarded by Google Maps.
The meaning of Being Paid
According to Wikipedia, “A payment is the voluntary tender of money or its equivalent or of things of value by one party (such as a person or company) to another in exchange for goods, or services provided by them, or to fulfill a legal obligation. The party making a payment is commonly called the payer, while the payee is the party receiving the payment”. In this case, talking about contributing to Maps, I think we can say that we are providing a service.
A service that will consequently have to be defined within a contract, or an agreement between Each contract serves to define the terms of the service, those that must be fulfilled in order for the service to be defined as performed, and also the rules of the service itself. I tried to imagine that the terms and rules were the ones defined in:
The terms and rules serve to define what the payer expects, and what is defined as non-payable.
How much should we get paid?
What economic value do you think our contributions should have?
How should they be calculated?
I’ve read many assumptions in Connect in the past:
- Based on our level of Local Guide.
- Based on our points.
- Based on the number of views of our contributions.
- Based on the numbers of positive vote (likes) received
I find the first two proposals very bad, as they encourage contributors to add a large number of contents, often of poor quality, and the final result would be a deterioration in the quality of Google Maps contents.
I already like the proposal based on the number of views/likes more, because one of the factors that increases views is the quality of the content.
If I had to choose a calculation method I would like it to be more elaborate: the quantity of contributions multiplied by a quality index calculated from the relationship between views, likes and contributions.
However, I must also say that this method also has its limits, because those who live in a big city would have an advantage (more possibilities to contribute, more views, more likes) than those who live in a small country village.
How much do you think we should be paid?
The implications of getting paid
Getting paid to do something is different than doing it as a volunteer, and I think doing it for a reward would make me feel less free. However, there are other implications as well
The first implication of having a contract and being paid for it is that the contract must be respected, in the first place, by the service provider: the Local Guide.
This obviously raises a question: what happens if the Local Guide provides content that does not comply with the requirements?
We know the current implications: depending on the violations, the contents can be removed and, in some cases, even the Local Guide can be removed from the program.
But let’s try to imagine what the violation would entail if there were a contract that provides for a payment for a service? The risk could be that of being sued by Google for non-compliance with the contract and for having, with our contributions, damaged the image of the customer (Google).
The second implication in my opinion would be “the end of a free App”. We currently have a free and ad-free App that is constantly updated thanks to the contributions of Local Guides like us. In the past, before Google Maps, I paid €100 each year for two updates, one every 6 months, of my navigation system. If Google were to pay 150 million contributors based on their contributions, a free app would no longer be viable. I see three options:
- A free App with advertising
- An annual subscription
- A pay as you go subscription
In your opinion, which of the three solutions would be preferable? Or do you have another one?
Share your opinion
Of course that’s just my opinion, and at Connect over six years I’ve heard a lot of other opinions.
This is obviously a fictional post, the rules themselves prevent this from happening. However, after reading this post, I would also like to know your opinion, and read an answer to the questions written in the post.
I want to close with a post from an old friend, @davidhyno , a passionate Local Guide who, in 2017, wanted to share his point of view with us with:Local Guides makes we rich?.
His post helped me reflect and grow as a Local Guide, so today I want to thank him
, and possible to understand
and I will share this post to everyone who will ask benifits being local guides.
so if they ask for a remuneration, I guess they are justified, sometimes you just want to tease your very rich uncle.