Introduction Reading various posts on Connect, I’ve realized how often these three options are confused or overlapped. This leads Local Guides to make edits that are not only incorrect but can also damage Google Maps and the legitimate contributions of other Guides. As the saying goes, “The road to hell is paved with good intentions”; actions we believe are right can actually cause significant damage if not handled correctly.
I decided to write this post to help you decide which action to take in different scenarios.
A Typical Scenario: Imagine you go for pizza at a newly opened spot. As a proud Local Guide, you take photos and want to leave a review. You check Maps and see the “pizzeria” isn’t there. A great opportunity, right? You add the place, it gets approved, and you post your review and beautiful photos.
Then, someone else visits the same spot and does exactly what you did, only to find that this “Italian restaurant” is missing from Google Maps. So, they add it as well. Eventually, a more experienced Local Guide comes along and finds two entries for the same place, perhaps with slightly different names or categories. What should they do?
Defining the Terms. First, let’s define what we are dealing with:
- Duplicate Place: A place that physically exists but has been entered into Google Maps more than once. It’s an error that shouldn’t happen, but it does.
- Permanently Closed: A place that once existed on Google Maps but is no longer active. It likely has photos and reviews testifying to its history. It might have a “Closed” sign, a “We’ve moved” notice, or it might have been replaced by a new business or even demolished.
- Does Not Exist: This applies to places that should never have been on Google Maps in the first place. These are often added in good faith (we’ve discussed “fire extinguishers” or similar items before) using plausible categories. The most common case is someone adding their private home. As a reference please read Places you can't add to the map - Google Maps Help
The Danger of “Does Not Exist”: Unfortunately, the most common (and wrong) action taken is marking a place as “Does not exist.” This action, once approved, is nearly irreversible and causes massive data loss:
- To the Business: They lose legitimate reviews and images.
- To Local Guides: Their contributions vanish or are disconnected.
- To Google Maps: We lose the historical record of that location.
Choosing the Right Edit
- Permanently Closed: This preserves the history. If I want to revisit a place I loved two years ago, seeing it marked as “Permanently Closed” saves me a wasted trip. The info remains visible, but no new contributions can be added.
- Duplicate: This is the best option for multiple entries. It merges the contributions of both (or more) POIs, consolidating photos and reviews. This significantly improves the quality of Google Maps.
The “Pro” Strategy: How to Successfully Merge: We’ve all been there: you suggest a “Merge,” and it gets rejected. Why? Usually, it’s not the algorithm’s fault, but because the two entries look too different to a machine.
Take our Italian restaurant example:
- POI A: “Pizza Da Luigi” (Category: Pizzeria)
- POI B: “Da Luigi, La Vera Italia” (Category: Italian Restaurant)
To the algorithm, these might look like two different businesses in the same building. The secret to a successful merge is making them identical first. Before suggesting the merge, edit the POIs so they have the exact same name, category, and website. It might take a bit more time and a few preliminary edits, but in my experience, this method has a 100% success rate, even with three or four duplicates.
For a detailed deep dive on this, I highly recommend checking out @MortenCopenhagen 's excellent topic: #LGCTM Tips & Tricks: Merge Workflow
Conclusion: If you have any doubts or questions, feel free to ask! We’re happy to help you set up your edits correctly. Let’s keep Maps clean, but let’s do it with care.
