In your efforts to take part in Local Guides Clean The Map, you might be actively searching for duplicates in an area near you - or really anywhere on the map. A crucial factor to detect them is using the zoom: a lot of times the duplicate only shows up if you zoom in quite closely, as different zoom levels show different amounts of information. In the screenshots below you can see what I mean: when zoomed in already quite closely (screenshot 1), no duplicate is shown; only when zooming in at the highest levels does it appear, at first as an icon only (screenshot 2), and finally as another point of interest with a similar name (screenshot 3).
This does imply that, when hunting for duplicates, you canāt just move around very quickly across the map, you need to take your time and activate your best detective-mode.
This post is part of a series with specific Tips & Tricks that can be helpful in the Local Guides Clean The Map (#LGCTM) project.
Can you think of any good tips yourself? Please post them here in the āHow-toā section on Connect, with the title in the format ā#LGCTM Tips & Tricks: [YOUR TIP,if possible in 1 or 2 words]ā. I will then add a link to your tip in the main LGCTM post.
@JanVanHaver , Great tip. I myself has accidentally identified few duplicates when zooming in for some other work. Your #LGCTM is a great initiative. If we can make it a habit to check for duplicates when you are at some place and you have some free time we can gradually achieve your target. It will not be very fast but it will be a steady growth if many people make it a habit rather than one time spree.
Hi @JanVanHaver thank you for this great work on this project. I would like to know on how you identify the original or correct locations between the two, as most of the time it happens that the duplicates exist for a longer period and they get almost the same reviews in numbers and photos on them in such a way that they end up both looking like they are original making it difficult to distinguish which one to remove or merge to the other. Any ideas or suggestions on this issue?
@JanVanHaver You are right, dublicates are the real problem on Maps. There are a lot of them in my area and the dublicate hunting is not so difficult here (as dublicates are everywhere).
I think zooming is the most effective method, but this method is quite laborious, as you never know if your zooming is appropriate, or you can zoom and look at the other side of the building.
I use another method: when I search for some object (for example: pharmacy at Lozhinskaya Street; or I search according to the company name anywhere) almost all dublicates are displayed. Sometimes this method gives more than two dublicates at once.
This method is worth using when you donāt search namely dublicates of the places, but any mistakes and inaccuracies on Maps, or you check data completeness of great network of similar objects.
I have found more dublicates by chance than searching for dublicates specially.
@Raphael-Mahumane duplicates can be tricky indeed, but I noticed that you already found the Tip post on the topic by @MortenCopenhagen , so that should be a great help.
Indeed @OlgaKlimchik , if you type in the name of a place, you can also see the duplicates. But I like to just move around on the Map and then come across the duplicates (and lots of other problems). I used to play Candy Crush, but this is so much more rewarding ; - )
@JanVanHaver Yes, itās like a detective game, very exciting game. I use zooming of course too, but itās not the most convenient instrument, unfortunately itās the single working instrument.
To reduce the time with zooming I often focus on searching for other problems (for example all companies containing the type of ownership, such as ŠŠŠ, ŠŠŠ, these reductions can be easily found and usually such organisations are filled incompletely: site, phone number, etc.), and as a result I find the dublicates as well.
I have noticed that too. Sometimes when I go to a place- say a plazaā I zoom in so I can see all the places that I can take photos of and Iāll make a list. However, when zooming in, similar to your experience-- I often do see duplicates too and report them. They donāt always get removed but I have been able to to get a few decluttered.
Do you know if there is an actual team that reviews the reports we make or is the moderation of our reports of duplicates just done automatically via some backend tool? Iāve always been curious for how that workedā¦
Yes @AZ_2021 there is a team checking the edits we local guides make. They look into the edits where the algorithms canāt decide whether to approve or reject the edit.
As it happens, I have a podcast episode on that (happy to hear that you like it, by the way): go check out episode 25.
Iāve always been curious for how that workedā¦