you are absolutely right @ErmesT
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Haha, @KashifMisidia 
Well, the scope of this post was to open an honest debate, and I will be happy to read the opinion of who is asking for a payment.
But of course I wanted to introduce the “pros and cons” of being paid.
In the life nothing is free, and in fact we exchange a free app for our contributions.
Is this exchange correct and proportional?
The fun fact is that, most of the time, the ones that are asking for a payment are the ones that contribute in a bad way. So I would like to have an honest evaluation.
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@Gezendunyali el dinero no lo es todo en la vida, ni compra la vida; “tal vez la pueda hacer más llevadera” no creo que mucho más. El trabajo remunerado dignifica, cuando lo haces dentro de los cánones de la moral y la ética. Todo lo demás solo muestra la miseria humana.
Saludos desde Uruguay 
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@ErmesT tienes razón , haz abierto una gran debate esencial, para que está Comunidad sea lo más transparente posible."Si para la pretensión de obtener un trabajo remunerado aquí, mostramos lo que presentamos, vamos mal.
“NO PRETENDO NI ACEPTO REMUNERACION ALGUNA POR LO QUE APORTO EN GOOGLE MAPS”
Creo que esta frase a modo de Declaración ayudaría a que la Comunidad se autolimpie.
Saludos desde Uruguay
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Hallo, @TeffiG , I’m happy to see you here.
Yes, there are many thing that we do voluntarily for helping others, and at the end of the day we can be tired but for sure we are happy of what we did.
Feel free to share this post in the FB groups mentioned in your reply, I would be happy to have an honest conversation about getting paid.
Again, I would expect this question to be asked by contributors with hundred millions of views, that are contributing with great contents. This would be a way for me to say “well, they are really doing well, and they deserve more”. But most of the times when I check the profile of the ones that write about money I become sad
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Sono completamente d’accordo con te @FaridTDF . Comprendo bene che per molte persone “Lavorare per Google” possa essere un sogno, ma come ho già detto almeno dovrebbe essere supportato da contenuti di alta qualità. Invece qualcuno pensa (come ti hai detto riguardo a Connect) che sia importante avere molti punti o molti like, non importa in che modo li riceviamo, come se Google fosse così stupida da rimanere abbagliata dai punti più che dal valore dei nostri contributi.
Per questo ho scritto questo post, per invitare le persone a pensare e a usare la logica. Ho conosciuto molte persone che pensavano che i like avessero più valore del modo in cui li ottenevano, e molte di queste persone, che spesso avevano un livello molto alto (anche molti L10) ore sono state rimosse dal programma.
Personalmente sono felice di essere libero di contribuire perché lo faccio perché mi diverto, non per obbligo.
Una cosa che ho sentito dire spesso è “ho speso molti soldi per viaggiare, andare in ristorante e alberghi, in modo da poter contribuire in Maps”. La mia prima risposta sarebbe di dire “non farlo più”. Io racconto i luoghi dove mi trovo, e se viaggio racconto i luoghi dove vado. Ma non viaggio per poter contribuire, anche se questo a volte aiuta la mia curiosità di scegliere luoghi dove non ero mai stato. E mi diverte molto.
Non ci trovo nulla di male che un’azienda guadagni, se per farlo da lavoro a molte persone e se non mi chiede denaro per i suoi servizi. Se Alphabet non guadagnasse, noi non saremmo qui a discutere
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Ben fatto @ErmesT aspettavo una risposta forte ai tanti, troppi post o commenti di persone che chiedono soldi per scrivere recensioni o fare le altre attività come LG su Maps. Io personalmente penso che Maps funzioni proprio perché è così com’è e chi vuole qualcosa di diverso può cercare altrove. Quello che invece mi piacerebbe vedere sarebbe un criterio di selezione degli LG perché la situazione sta sfuggendo al controllo. Fossi in te non mi aspetterei molti commenti qui da chi chiede soldi però sono sicura che il titolo ha attirato la loro attenzione e che leggeranno il post e questa è già una cosa buona, l’altra cosa buona è che la maggior parte degli LG sono delle brave persone che spendono il loro tempo per “donare” e non per cercare di vendere
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Yes @CAAG1959
Understanding the meaning and the implications of being paid is the key. And maybe to understand the real meaning of the word “work”.
Word that is frequently abused. When sometime I read that “I worked hard to contribute” and, checking the profile, I see 200 selfies added in one year, I really think that there is a big misunderstanding of what working means
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You are welcome, dear friend @CAAG1959
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@ErmesT tal vez yo mismo he utilizado muchas veces la palabra “trabajar”. Creo recordar que en muchas felicitaciones a otros LG, he dicho "el logro es fruto de tu “trabajo” o tu “esfuerzo”, jamás con la intención de que se relacionara con la palabra “remuneración”, si no con el sentido vocacional y solidario de hacer algo por los demás.
Si estas palabras lleva consigo un contexto que lleve a malos entendidos JAMAS las volveré a usar.
Muchas veces he recibido felicitaciones en esos términos, pero nunca se me pasó por la cabeza la frase “recibir un pago por lo que hago aquí”
Saludos desde Uruguay
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Fully agree with you, my dear @TravellerG .
I remember very well @AmbrishVarshney 's signature. He says “Volunteers” and WE ARE Volunteers.
Your reply is crystal clear, thanks for responding to my questions one by one.
I usually reply to LGs one by one when they post on this topic. First of all, however, I am used to checking the profile, because I am naive enough to expect that if someone asks for money, their contributions will certainly be of very high quality. Most of the time their profile is such a big disappointment that every time I wonder if I should reply and try to guide them, or if I should report the profile and opt out.
Again, I think the the key is “missing education” and I think that we should help Google to provide a better education to the contributors.
The messages that we receive, the “you are one of the top xx% Local Guide in your area” can be misunderstood, and if someone is adding selfies (as an example) will probably think that adding selfies is the best way to contribute, and will continue in that way. The next step is easy: Google is gaining money, and I am one of the top contributor, so why they cant share a part of their money with me?
So I wanted to write, to invite the readers to think. I am sure that many people read it, as the title is intentionally a bit tricky. Probably they will not like the content, but I am just trying to be honest with the readers.
Have a great weekend ahead
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That’s a well known plague, @MortenCopenhagen , and also the reason why right now the filter is much stronger, filtering also legitimate reviews.
But that’s not what I want to talk about in this post. I don’t want to talk about cheaters who try illegally to get an illicit profit, defrauding both businesses and the naive poor who fall into the trap and believe they are being paid to write fake reviews. I make a small digression: do you remember that local guide who once wrote in Connect asking for the promised money for the reviews he had written? Well, I’m not talking about them.
I’m talking about those who, perhaps in good faith, reading the emails they receive from Maps where it says “You are a Top Local Guide”, really think that their selfies, and their duplicate photos, take them to the top of the world. They probably don’t want to cheat, not everyone at least, they probably really think contributing like this is right, they really think this is what Google wants. Couple this with the fact that many people are young and out of work.
Google is rich, they consider me a Top Local Guide, so why not share some of their money with me? They have never read the rules, they consider Maps a social media channel, and they think: I’m cool, I have more views than some Instagram influencer. They don’t know that influencer are paid by sponsors, and they think that Google should pay for their selfies on Maps. I want to talk about them, and I want to talk to them.
I would like to ask them to think like users, and invite them to make two calculations: How much could they have if the net profit of Google Maps were partly divided among 150 million Local Guides based on their contributions and views? Considering that Google Maps’ revenue derives largely from AdAwards, and minimally from the use of the APIs, and that from these we must subtract the company’s costs, including those of Street View, what figures are we talking about?
According to a research made in 2019 by Morgan Stanley “With 1 billion-plus users, Google Maps is a utility-like service (similar to Search) and in our view, remains the most under-monetized asset that we cover,”. The estimated revenue of around 10 billion in 2022, how much would be the net profit? 10%, or even 20%? Let say 20%. How do you think the net profit should be shared? Let say 2/3 for the company and 1/3 for the Local Guides, it means an average of $ 4.40 per Local Guide.
As @davidhyno said Long Time Ago Local Guides will not make us rich
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Haha, @Ewaade_3A , how many currencies have you been able to identify?
It took 25 years to accumulate them, as a result of my travels around the world.
Taking the photo was easy, I just took one of the paper maps from my collection and some banknotes and coins, et voilà.
For the Covers most of the time I use the free version of Canva.
I really like the concept: "I do it because it’s like 'keeping a real life diary". And I hope this (transforming our contributions in payed ones) will never happens. I like to be free
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“… I usually reply to LGs one by one…”
I too very much try to follow these… Thanks for your detailed response, very dear @ErmesT Ji.
"… the the key is “missing education” and I think that we should help Google to provide a better education to the contributors… "
“Missing proper TUTORIAL” is a big GAP.
Google should provide, at least a simple Video Tutorial before allowing any newcomer to start reviewing.
Let me be frank with you… An LG from rural India, accidentally comes across this LG ship, he may do mistakes…
Like giving one star & write good!
Many better-educated LGs are unaware of correctly giving the STAR rating, itself.
As you are aware, I’m the Admin for many Indian and Global LG Social Media Groups - I usually get one person per week, asking me how to make money or get perks from Google Maps.
“… you are one of the top xx%…”
Excellent explanation - I respect your views.
“… as the title is intentionally a bit tricky…”
Yes, you are absolutely right.
Enjoy a great weekend…
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A really good question @ErmesT
Came across to so many question when I explained to someone that I am a Local Guides when I use the word volunteer they look at me and say you know Google is very rich they are able to compensate all Local Guides from all over the world.
My response is Google maps will not be free to use if not because all of those volunteers (this is just my personal opinion).
Have a wonderful weekend hugs to you and Antonella 
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Bel tema @ErmesT , io sono pienamente d’accordo con te, i contributi su Maps non devono essere remunerati, porterebbe ad una distorsione dei risultati. Già gli abusi come le recensioni false sono un problema, figuriamoci se fossero a pagamento. Personalmente penso che, complessivamente, il primo risultato sarebbe un calo della qualità dei contributi.
Ciao,
Flavio
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@ErmesT . Thank you. Thank you for laying out all of the logic that seems lost on many many Connect bypassers.
I don’t know what has happened the last few months, but it seemed that posts from first-time Connect users announcing they were quitting the program have been a regular occurance. Obviously, it’s nothing new, as @KashifMisidia pointed to you pointing to @davidhyno as addressing this back in 2017. I just get irked seeing the entitlement and threats to leave.
One such post the other day stated that if they were on YouTube, they’d at least be paid by the number of views. Obviously, the person hasn’t looked at the YouTube pay schedule or monetization process. I think only those in the Billion Photo Views Club would be getting any kind of payment worth writing about, and I’d be furious if an ad popped up between every few pictures on Maps (that’s not to say we aren’t already presented with advertisements all over the Map).
I’ll finish by saying that I think the “Perks” section of the Ideas Exchange should have been cut years ago. I have other opinions about eliminating Ideas Exchange altogether, but the Perks section had become an echo chamber of demands for reimbursement for what’s really a hobby.
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UK, US and Malaysian only.
And the Malaysian, I am still not strongly convinced I got it right. The 100 note on top with the bespectacled man
I have seen it just once when a Local Guide showed it to me during a video call
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Instresante aportación @ErmesT una gran reflexión. 
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thank you for sharing this important perspective @ErmesT . Indeed many question and demand rewards and financial compensation from being Local Guides, even though they know since the very beginning that we are doing it voluntarily. Many questions me as well why I keep contributing in Google maps for free. I usually explain the same if not similar way as you outline it here, although many still don’t fully understand.
I am of the view with the consequences and implications of being paid as LG. including the declining quality of contribution or even fake ones. I am happy with what we have now and if everything we give has to be paid, the same goes to everything we use or take as well.
Nice post and again thanks for sharing it.
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