We would like to let everyone know that we are aware of the Google Maps translation issues that are currently going on.
The relevant teams are working on a fix.
Thank you for your patience and please stay tuned for further updates on this thread.
EDIT 11/23/18 - Engineering has identified the issue and the fix will be rolled out into production starting the week of 11/25**. Thank you for your patience.**
Since a couple of weeks, I have the problem that changes I make to POI names are marked as approved, but are not actually applied.
A few screenshots to illustrate
In this case I corrected the spelling from 'T to 't , which is the correct spelling in Dutch (and also the way it is written on the storefront in this particular example), and when looking at the notification in the notifications bar, this is shown as accepted.
But if I then go to the list of my contributions, it is shown as accepted, but the old, unchanged name is still there
And also on the POI the old name is still showing, also after waiting for several days
A lot of the business where I face this problem are not claimed, so it canât be related to any action from the business owners.
Any idea what could be going on? I use the Android app, and this problem is not manifesting on all name edits.
Hi JanVanHaver,
I canât offer any suggestions but will add my experience with this issue. Since July 1 I have more than 250 confirmations of approvals for changes that werenât actually made. Unlike your examples, my tally is not restricted to names only, but also includes edits to websites, phone, etc. Some/many(?) are claimed so that could be the reason for some â however itâs still a big number of faux approval confirmations. At one point I wondered if the âsoft denialsâ of days gone by had returned (when edits would be marked âAcceptedâ), but I donât think so. BTW, that number of 250 only includes edits where I flagged the confirmation â there are dozens and dozens of edits where I didnât take the time to flag the faux confirmation.
On a different, but somewhat related note, I am now receiving (many) approval confirmations that are at odds with the information displayed under âMy Contributionsâ. So, for example, I make an edit to the name, phone and hours of a business, which is Approved. Looking under âMy Contributionsâ the business/feature name is displayed along with âAPPROVED ⢠Name ⢠Business Hours ⢠Phoneâ. The confirming email I receive indicates by subject that my edit was âPublished â ⌠Success! ⌠See Your Changeâ. Looking at the bottom of the email however, I note that my âeditâ is only listed as âphoneâ â and in reality that was the only change made to the feature. The name and business hours remain as they were pre-edit.
So assuming, just to make it easier ; ) that the bots and/or the actions of a Local Guide(s) resulted in only the phone edit being approved in review-- what is a terrible outcome for me (and certainly others) is that I can no longer trust the information displayed under âMy Contributions - Editsâ. It may very well be that the system display is not capable of displaying a mixture of âAPPROVED ⢠Phone - NOT APPLIED ⢠Name ⢠Business Hoursâ ⌠if that is the case a fix is surely needed. I have no doubt countless other users look at the information displayed under âMy Contributions - Editsâ and trust that the information they are seeing is accurate and reflects the actual changes made.
Thank you very much @MapWrangler for taking the time to share your experience. I was beginning to think this would once more become an unaswered thread.
In fact I only mentioned changes to names in the original post, as that was the most striking problem for me, but also edits to pin location are problematic: they are shown as approved, but when revisited later they are in fact not applied or âsemi-appliedâ (the pin is moved, but not to the location I dragged it to, usually in the middle of the road instead of on the building).
Editing pin locations has also become more difficult for another reason: the system now seems to automatically apply a new address if you move the pin (apparently the address it has stored for the location you drag the pin to) and will consider a pin change as pin + address change even if you do not click the âadapt address tooâ option. This is happening since the maps software update a while ago (with the address change option now as a yellow message at the bottom instead of a pop up window).
As far as I can see, edits to categories (the other type of edit I frequently make) are applied correctly.
also edits to pin location are problematic: they are shown as approved, but when revisited later they are in fact
not applied or âsemi-appliedâ (the pin is moved, but not to the location I dragged it to, usually in the middle of
the road instead of on the building).
As an experienced mapper you no doubt know that if you donât view the completed (published) edit to the pin location at the same magnification you used to make the edit to the pin, it could appear to be in a different place. One of the cool things about the approved email confirmations for pin edits is that the email will display the new, moved location on the email (albeit the map display on the email is quite small). This can be helpful as the actual change to the moved pin on the map may take a day or three to display properly.
Editing pin locations has also become more difficult for another reason: the system now seems to automatically
apply a new address if you move the pin (apparently the address it has stored for the location you drag the pin to)
and will consider a pin change as pin + address change even if you do not click the âadapt address tooâ option.
I agree the pin movement coupled with a Google-generated new address is wonky, frustrating and at times exasperating. I do wish the checkbox marked âchange address tooâ or âmove the pin to a new locationâ was disabled by default. At this moment I donât recall exactly what my work product is for this, other than to say I am now usually prepared with a copied to clipboard copy of the correct address, or some other proactive measure depending upon the type of edit Iâm making, and what is likely to change â either the address takes on a life form of its own or the pin takes off like a jet plane going to the wrong address generated by Google.
This is happening since the maps software update a while ago (with the address change option now as a
yellow message at the bottom instead of a pop up window).
Iâm not familiar with the yellow message â hah! maybe itâs there and Iâve so far missed it! ; )
And this final word from Grump Wangler: Didnât there used to be a âquoteâ function in these messages? Maybe itâs staring me right in the face. But doing it manually is soooo 2005.
(Hey you kids, get off my grass!)
The quote function was kicked out as part of the Connect restyling, probably as a number of people were quoting entire posts all the time instead of selecting the relevant part. The words baby and bathwater might pop into oneâs mind here, right?
And I have figured out why we are referring to different experiences with pins: you are working on the desktop version, I assume? The references I was making are related to the Android version.
But a good thing that you mentioned those confirmation emails - I will have a look at those again in the folder where I am automatically moving them (as I was fed up spamming myself with maps related mails)
DING ⌠DING ⌠DING⌠DING⌠DING ⌠â Right you are!
At least we/I have @JanVanHaver to explain the disappearance of the quote feature!
IMNHO, the quote feature is absolutely necessary for those l-o-n-g threads that occur from time-to-time (subjects like âwhy arenât my edits approved?â ; ) etc. If I can navigate my way to âSuggestionsâ Iâll enter my vote to restore it.
And yes, I am using the desktop version. I envy you and those who can edit on a phone! I think it would take me a full day to make one edit on my phone ; ) And, BTW, I did feel uncomfortable mentioning the âdifferent magnification levelsâ as you are an experienced editor ⌠and do know about that.
Now the weirdest thing happened: it looks like the Google Maps Android app has returned to the older version, and all of the problems described above are no longer there⌠Newly added features, like the ability to indicate that a POI is located within another POI, and the ability to enter the date when a shop opened are also gone. And the new way of entering opening hours has also gone (and is back the way it used to be).
I am a beta-tester of the app, so it might have been related to that, I guess.
Normally, when i translate a name from Arabic to English in google maps , or just correct a wrong translation, Normally what happens is that the Right English translation replaces the wrong one after being approved.
But Recently this problem appeared,
What happens now is that the Right English Translation (which is intended to go in the english field in normal cases ) replaces The Original Arabic Name (in its arabic field) ,
While the Wrong English Translation remains in its english field and the arabic name gets erased from its arabic field because it was erased and replaced by the right english translation.
So what we do now is we write Both the Right English translation just next to the Original Arabic name in the same field, Example : ( Post Office - Ů
Ůتب بعŮŘŻ )
so that we make sure that the right engish translation (which is intended to go in the english field in normal cases ) have next to it the original arabic name in the same line (knowing that it will go in the arabic field and erase the original arabic name).
THIS PROBLEM FACED EVERY LOCAL GUIDE I MET HERE IN EGYPT.
THIS NEEDS TO BE FIXED.
@StephenAbraham @GeorgesHR @KlaudiyaG
Hi, can you tag any one from google maps team so they can have a look at this problem
Hi @KarimKarimo and welcome to Connect!
In you have found a translating error regarding a specific POI, then feel free to âsuggest an editâ by following the steps bellow:
If, however, you have found other places with no editing options or no specific report routes, if available in your country, you can request updates via the Send Feedback process. You will want to choose the Wrong Information option and follow the prompts.
I hope that youâll find the above helpful! 
P.S.: Usually if you have questions or issues regarding Google Maps, itâs better to post them on Google Maps & Earth Help forum.
@KlaudiyaG
Hi Klaudia ,
Have you read the problem above ?
because your âCopy/Pasteâ reply suggests otherwise.
Iâm aware of all the things you mentioned, iâm very well aware of all features of maps and how editing POI works.
If u read the problem above u would have realized that i am reporting a problem in the program itself that all the users here in Egypt are experiencing. There is an error within the software itself that affects translating.
Please read the problem above to understand what i mean.
@VasT
Hi ,
Can you check this problem i mentioned above and tag whomever can fix this problem.
Itâs an error in the software itself, an error that affects and ruins translation and name editing from arabic to english in google maps. Please read the problem above carefully so that you can understand what i mean.
This problem affects all users here in Egypt. it would mean so much to us if someone solved this.
Hi @KarimKarimo ,
I did escalate this internally, but in order for the appropriate team to resolve this issue we need more information. Would you please share one or more POI URLs with which you encounter this problem? Also can you confirm if you are in the âSuggest an Editâ field in Google Maps? These important details will help the team troubleshoot more thoroughly.
Thank you!
Hi @KlaudiyaG
thanks i appreciate your help
Here is the POI URL as u requested and i attached an image to explain the problem.
https://www.google.com/maps/place/HB+Jnoaz/@30.90443,29.420555,18z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x145f7ff9d0b53631:0xe7fab11920ef1c3b!8m2!3d30.90443!4d29.4214752
And Yes iâm in the âSuggest an Editâ field. when iâm in the editing page every thing looks fine. but after the edit gets approved the problem appears. Itâs after the approval where all the mess happens. When you go to check the POI you find a mess in the names, as explained in the image attached.
i hope this image clarifies what i mean
Thank you @KarimKarimo for the fast and detailed reply!
I already forwarded the information that you have provide to the team. Iâm going to get back to you when I have any news.
@KlaudiyaG
Thanks for being so helpful
And iâd be more than happy if you tell me about any news regarding this.
Because some of us in Egypt stopped editing POIs because of this problem.
It would be nice to know when we can resume using this feature again .
And again, Thanks for the help.
@TraciC @, @KlaudiyaG observed that the regional language names of many cities published on map are not actual names, not correctly pronounced as per their known names. Is there any way that we local guides could suggest actual names or the name by which the place is known/pronounced by locals.i have attached a screen shot in which a town in maharashtra India has correct English name but the local language name is not correct. This is just one example and there are many more where I found descrepencies.
Hello @NGUDAPE ,
There are attributes of names that arenât viewable to a user (they used to be under Map Maker). Every POI (Point of Interest) has a PRIMARY Name Type and usually a LOCAL Name Type â which is usually the same as the PRIMARY Name. Line edits such as roads, etc., also have these name attributes.
The PRIMARY Name Type is the most commonly recognized name and best name for a feature.
The LOCAL Name Type is the name of the place entered in the common language for the region the feature is located in. (As mentioned before these are often the same.) LOCAL Name Types can also be entered in several different languages â as there can be more than one LOCAL Name Type.
There is also an OFFICIAL Name Type. That is a name usually designated by a governmental office that is the authoritative naming authority for the location. That is usually only used where there is a difference between the âofficial governmentâ name and the PRIMARY name.
These different name types allow for local usage variants as well as local languages. While the PRIMARY Name type will usually be displayed on the map, the LOCAL Name Type is also sometimes displayed, and a Google search for any of the different names that have been entered will display the correct POI or location.
Unfortunately, there isnât a clear edit channel to submit an edit to add an (additional) LOCAL Name Type, nor do I know if Google will even accept such an edit request. The best approach I can see is âSend Feedbackâ â Your Opinions About Maps â Describe your issue.
More unfortunate is the edit you are suggesting isnât to a (normal) POI or a road name, but to a city name â which in my experience can be a very difficult edit to get approved â although not impossible ; )
I would suggest you make an edit via the âSend Feedbackâ procedure and describe your issue similar to what you did in your question, requesting that the PRIMARY Name Type and the LOCAL Name Type be changed to reflect/display the name in the local language.
While you could mention the official government record as a reference, linking to it in your Google Drive account probably wonât help as Googlers will likely not look at it as they will only use their own (extensive) sources (licensed to them or free of any restrictions)
Edit: added word for clarity
