Hey Google! Please, tell me why some of my photos and videos are non-published.

[FrancescDomingo]

Hi Local Guides and moderators,

I hope everyone is doing well. I’m reaching out to address an issue that I’ve been experiencing with my Google Maps account. I’ve noticed that several of my photos have not been published, and my most recent review is also not visible to the public. This is quite frustrating, as I have put in a lot of effort to contribute to the platform and provide valuable information for users.

Additionally, there is a discrepancy in the number of published photos and videos between my profile and one of my follower’s views. On my profile, I can see a total of 2.509 photos and videos published, but when viewed from my follower’s profile, the number drops to 2.441. This further confirms the issue of unpublished content, and it’s disheartening to see my contributions not being properly displayed.

I would like to clarify that all the photos and videos in question were indeed taken by me, uploaded to the correct locations without any errors, and accompanied by accurate captions. I have not received any compensation for my contributions. However, I find it surprising that there are other instances on the platform where poor-quality photos or videos that don’t belong to the location, and without any captions, are published without issue.

I have already filled out the account review form a few weeks ago, but there has been no response or change in the situation. Should I fill out the form again? Does requesting an account review actually help in resolving these issues?

I have two screenshots. One screenshot shows my photos and videos from my Google Maps profile, while the other is taken from a follower’s profile, clearly showing the unpublished photos/videos. As I scroll through the images, it becomes apparent that there are multiple unpublished media. From my profile, it may seem like everything is in order, but in reality, there are unpublished photos and videos, and I have not been informed of any reason for this.

I kindly request assistance in resolving this issue and ensuring that my contributions are visible to the public. Any insight or advice from the moderators’ team or other Local Guides would be greatly appreciated.

I have already read the post about account review, but I would like to know why the photos are non-published.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Best regards,

Francesc Domingo

[SholaIB]

Hello @FrancescDomingo

Your profile is restricted which is OK everyone has a right to their privacy. Otherwise I could have had a look to see what your photos look like. In general if your photos are blurry, dark,near duplicate and other sub-standard issues the AI could mark them private as you have noticed. Have you seen this post What-photos-should-I-share-on-Google-Maps ? and also Tips-for-taking-storefront-photos-on-Google-Maps there are interesting articles please kindly have a look while waiting for your issue to be resolved

Nevertheless if you feel strongly that your photos are up to standard then you can appeal as you have already done. Then leave it at that.

After appealing please kindly wait for the team involved to investigate. The investigation does take time. There are perhaps many more others who have filled the form before you did. Therefore I believe the team behind the curtains of what we see public on the maps and here on connect are working hard to make sure things run smoothly.

Therefore please don’t fill the form for a 2nd time. Thanks for your understanding and patience. Please note that the team will not reachout to you after the investigation is done. Keep monitoring your profile till the issue is resolved.

Happy guiding

Cheers

[MortenCopenhagen]

Hi @FrancescDomingo

Let me add:

Having approximately 50 out of 2500 photos hidden is usually not an issue. This is about 2%. Having 2-4 percent hidden photos is quite normal. Some businesses close so zero percent hidden is not realistic.

I hope this helps

Cheers

Morten

[ErmesT]

Hi @FrancescDomingo

I’m sorry about your issue, that it is very common for everyone of us.

The AI is working on Photo verification based on a wide range of parameters, including what can be a kind of “supposed spam”. In my case I have a lot of hidden photos related to photos where the logo of the business is covering a large part of the photo, just to give you an example, but I also have an hidden photo with 1.200.000 views, that for four years was the Cover Photo of a business.

Understanding which photo is hidden may help you to better understand what to avoid to post. i am not talking about “low quality” photos, but photos that can be interpreted as “something else”, like the photo here below, taken in a gallery art in Venice

The process to release the photos is the same used for reviews, filling the same form, but it will take a longer time (I filled the form several months ago, and still waiting), due to the amount of contributions that the team need to check.

So, like @MortenCopenhagen said, I consider 2% an acceptable amount of hidden photos and I give up.

Actually hidden photos are not impacting your points, (you are actually receiving points for 1877 photos) even if they should, but I fully understand your disappointment.

[FrancescDomingo]

Google Maps reviews

Hi @SholaIB

Thank you for your thoughtful response. I appreciate your suggestions and your understanding of the situation.

My profile is indeed set to private, but I’m more than willing to grant you access if you’d like to have a closer look. In addition, I have attached a video showcasing a screen capture of my reviews to give you an idea of my contributions.

I have read the articles you linked and I believe that I comply with the recommendations outlined in those articles. I strongly believe that my photos are of good quality and accurately placed, unlike many others that I’ve seen uploaded indiscriminately.

I understand the need for patience and will not fill out the form again, as you’ve advised. However, it’s still frustrating that my recent review of a restaurant I visited on Sunday with my family is not showing up publicly. It is visible on my profile, as you can see in the attached video, but it is not visible when viewed in incognito mode.

If you have any suggestions or recommendations after viewing the video, I would greatly appreciate it. My primary goal is to enhance the quality of my contributions, rather than the quantity.

Thank you again for your assistance and guidance. I hope this issue will be resolved soon.

Best regards,

Francesc Domingo

[FrancescDomingo]

Hi @MortenCopenhagen

Thank you for your perspective on this matter. I understand that a small percentage of hidden photos is normal, especially considering the possibility of businesses closing down.

However, I have noticed that some of the non-visible photos and videos correspond to active and open businesses. For example, in the video I attached in the previous response, you can see a photo and a video from a restaurant review where my family and I had lunch last Sunday. Neither the video, the photo, nor the review itself are publicly visible, however an update I posted is visible: https://goo.gl/maps/L9PdqQHkzEivPSRB8 Further down, there’s a historical landmark, a medieval bridge, where there is a bicycle placed to provide a reference point for the small size of the bridge, this photo is also not visible publicly. And there are many more similar instances.

I appreciate your response and it indeed puts things into a broader context. Nevertheless, I’m still interested in finding a way to ensure that my contributions, which accurately represent the active locations I visit, are published.

Best regards,

Francesc Domingo

[FrancescDomingo]

Hi @ErmesT

I want to start by thanking you, as well as @MortenCopenhagen and @SholaIB , for your responses. I greatly appreciate and value your help and interest.

I do believe that my photos, as previously mentioned, do not lend themselves to confusion, as the restaurant example I provided illustrates.

Regarding points, it is what I care about the least. I am against awarding points based on quantity as I believe it negatively affects the quality and reputation of Google Maps. I’ve noticed that many people, in an attempt to accumulate points, upload photos without considering their appropriateness. For instance, I’ve seen cases where a tourist arrives at a hotel and proceeds to upload all the photos from their trip without considering the correct locations. I’ve reported these inaccuracies and noticed that it’s often the same Local Guide causing a large portion of the mislocated photos. This not only results in photos being uploaded to incorrect locations but also in an excessive number of photos being uploaded. Furthermore, reporting these doesn’t seem to make a difference as they continue to appear.

I’m considering writing a post on this topic to share my humble opinion and ideas on how to prevent such a high number of misplaced photos, such as a site verification for each photo and mandatory captions. When I do write this article, I would highly value your opinions. I might also write an article on how I believe the point system is detrimentally affecting the quality and reputation of Google Maps.

Thank you so much!

Best regards,

Francesc Domingo

[ErmesT]

@FrancescDomingo

I am 1000% with you, that’s why long time ago I wanted to write Local Guides in The Mirror - How useful are our contributions?

The reason why Google do not remove the wrong or misplaced, or even spam photos, and delegate an App to only flagging (frequently in a wrong way) our photos is the subject of a conversation that I started during the LG Summit 2017 directly at Google in Mountain View. During the years I have developed my theory: to do this for billions of contributions require a lot of calculation resources, and for this reason Google must assign priorities to the tasks because even if they have huge resources, there is a limit about what they can do.

On the top there is obviously the Navigation and Google Search, then we move down to applications where there is a direct real time interaction with the users, to end with tasks that can be executed in background, and frequently delayed (like the calculation of the total views of our photos).

Looks like the balance between resources and prioritizes is putting the verification of the wrong photos at the bottom of the list.

It is clear that Google is well aware of the issue, as they created a form where we can ask for a cheek. but the amount of contributions that need to be checked is against the possibility to do this with human operators only. So we need a better trained AI.

Several application, like Google Crowdsource, are cooperating in developing an AI with higher capacity to identify subject of photos and places, so I believe we are (Google is) not so far to achieve the goal (I am crossing my fingers) of a better and more interactive way to upload and accept / deny our photos

[MortenCopenhagen]

@FrancescDomingo

Thanks for your super polite replies.

Maybe you would like to know how I personally deal with hidden photos.

I take photos on batches of about 50 images. After processing them, I upload them to Google Maps. Next step is to check if they got featured. This happens typically a few hours later or the next day. If an image did not show up under the pin I delete it abd try uploading it again. About 1/3 of the rejected photos the make it when I recheck. The remaining 2/3 of the rejected images are then deleted in Google Maps. In Google Photos I then add them to a folder called Rejected. So I can better understand what images are not liked by the photo selection AI.

Feel free to browse my rejected album here.

Cheers

Morten

PS it is not normal to put so much effort into your Maps photos. I do it mostly to understand how the AI behave.

[FrancescDomingo]

Hi @ErmesT and @MortenCopenhagen ,

Firstly, I want to extend my sincere thanks for your insightful contributions.

ErmesT, your article “Local Guides in The Mirror - How useful are our contributions?” is truly enlightening. Ever since I read it, I’ve been giving even more consideration to whether my contributions could genuinely be of help to those who view my photos, videos, or read my reviews. However, I must admit that I’ve always considered this aspect of truly being helpful in my contributions.

Morten, I find your tracking technique highly interesting. I took a look at all your photos, and there were many business photos that I couldn’t quite understand why they weren’t published. In my case, I indeed upload fewer photos and try to ensure that they are not similar but provide a global view. I aim for a combination of a photo, video, and 360 photo to better document locations, especially when I’m registering new places.

Again, I really appreciate your valuable feedback and suggestions. Thank you both!

Best regards,

Francesc Domingo