How do you find or check those hidden items?

You’re a Local Guide, and you regularly upload photos of different locations or share service reviews on Maps as a responsible Local Guide. In return, you earn points from Google.

However, yesterday you came across a site that revealed you have 646 hidden media items and 16 hidden reviews. :enraged_face:

Now the question is—how do you find or check those hidden items?

@TusharSuradkar @NareshDarji

6 Likes

Hi @Raj_Tayade
I think this link " My Hiddens!" will help you for further informations…or hit this “Investigations!” might direct you for those checking..
Thanks!

1 Like

Hello @Raj_Tayade,

unfortunately, there is no easy way (at least, what I am aware of). The basic concept is to use two browser sessions side by side, one being logged in and the other one anonymous (aka private) without logging into Google, then scroll down both lists in parallel and watch for mismatches.

With some programming skills, you can automate the process to a certain degree. I did so a while ago, being able to discover all hidden photos and most reviews. So far, I was never able to find the remaining 4 hidden reviews, because My Contributions didn’t let me scroll until the oldest reviews.

I don’t think, it is possible using a single mobile, but if you have two smartphone, you can do so in a similar way.

This article by @MortenCopenhagen describes the details: How to find your hidden reviews

1 Like

@Raj_Tayade there are a number posts here that are a good read and for a simple approach, the strategy that @IzzyOz adopted and described in her post here might be a good start.

1 Like

Hi @Laurent Thanks a lot! That sounds helpful—I’ll check out both “My Hiddens!” and “Investigations!” right away. Appreciate you sharing this! :handshake:

1 Like

Hi @WilfriedB Thanks a lot for this detailed explanation—it’s super helpful! The two-browser method sounds clever, and I might give that a shot. I’ll definitely check out the article by @MortenCopenhagen too. Appreciate you taking the time to share your experience :+1:

1 Like

Hi @AdamGT Thanks for pointing me toward @IzzyOz ’s post—it sounds like a great starting point! I’ll check it out along with the other posts you mentioned. Really appreciate your help navigating this.

1 Like

You’re welcome @Raj_Tayade. In my view, in the case of a small number of contributions, the 2 browser approach is manageable however, even in moderate cases of say 2 hundred contributions it can require considerable time and effort and even more so when you have 2000+ contributions :wink: :wink:

As you have discovered, the Leaderboard System alerts you to the numbers without you needing to firstly learn how to and secondly do the necessary arithmetic and that’s a BIG step for many. That’s the current status so now I have my thinking cap on to see what else, if anything, can we do!

1 Like

Thank you for the feedback @Raj_Tayade!

As @AdamGT already mentioned, it highly depends on the number of contributions, if you can do it manually or need to invent some automation.

2 Likes

Thank you for the feedback, @WilfriedB :folded_hands:

As @AdamGT rightly pointed out, the best approach really depends on how many contributions you’re handling.

  • If you’re working with a manageable number, manually reviewing and organizing them might be sufficient.
  • However, if your contributions span thousands of photos or reviews, exploring some form of automation could save you time and effort. There are a few community-shared scripts and third-party tools that might help streamline the process, though results can vary.

Happy to help brainstorm automation ideas if needed!

1 Like