In India we have seen at many of the POIs that are certified by Google have been copied and a separate user generated POI have been placed on Maps beside the certified one.
The following categories are included in this issue:
Well, these are Google certified POI categories and no user can create a place on Maps using these categories.
Now, the problem we are facing is for each of the above mentioned category places users have created places with the same name but with different categories
What should be our point of action as a local guide to face this issue?
What would Google do afterall?
In my opinion merging all the pages would be the best idea so that all the reviews and ratings will be kept at a place and then again since the page categories are different how Google Map will handle it?
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Tagging some moderators and googlers because I find this issue a serious one:
These aren’t Google-certified POIs, These are POIs added in Map Maker time by users but Google disabled such categories (like natural ones) for users after some years. (although not at the same time for all of those categories).
And such an issue is not only in India but also all over the globe.
As you also told, the best idea is to merge them but since users haven’t the ability to merge with such categories, the best practice is to follow some steps of the merging process (for example moving and renaming the POI with the available category) mentioned here by @MortenCopenhagen and then request for a merge by Googlers in the support forum.
This is also applicable to the transit layer (public transportation POIs) but since the partnership program of Google Maps is available in India, the transit authorities can handle the issue better in cooperation with Google. So it is better to make local transit organizations aware of such an issue on Google Maps.
Let me add: Not all categories are available to Maps users including Local Guides.
The ones we can not add (or select the category for) sometimes have not had pics and reviews enabled. For that reason a lot of secondary pins have been added it order to be able to add photos and reviews.
I think this is a huge mess.
Since we can not merge pins with different categories, and we can’t select all the categories, the best solution is to document the problem with the two Maps links and a specific ask for them to be merged. And mention which category is most correct and then seek help on getting them merged in the Google Maps Support Forum.
In my opinion the categories that I mentioned under “Google Certified” are the most correct and should be kept in Maps. And the rest should be merged into.
I have a question:
After merging the two pages, the reviews of both the pages will be visible or only the reviews from the “correct” page will be visible on Maps?
The whole idea/purpose of merging is to preserve the pics and reviews from both pins. That is how merge works when we suggest two pins be merged.
But I believe staff can remove individual reviews manually so not all reviews will stay public. This is one of the things we can specify when asking for help in the Maps Support Forum.
I agree that the “oldest” pin usually will have the most specific and correct category.
I had no idea exactly whom to tag on this issue. That’s why I tagged some Googlers too. Since the issue is from India I tagged some Indian moderators.
Simply because it becomes unclear who should answer. And it takes more resources when more people need to read, understand and think of an answer.
This is of cause just my opinion. I saw the question before any replies were added and decided not to answer because I feel it is not necessary to tag so many people.
