1 - Background:
For well over three years now we have been talking about and analyzing the performance of our photo contributions on Maps and this has included our star (most viewed) photo. Regarding star photos, the Star Photos Album is a post where we share and showcase our “best” performing photos and the Top 100 Star Photo leaderboards and the System behind them, have provided detailed analysis of these stars.Moving forward, with the recent growing interest in video, earlier this week the scope of our study and analysis of our photos was extended to encompass video and the Star Videos Album was launched as a place for sharing our best performing videos.
But something is still missing and this is 360 Spheres. This class of photo contributions has been mentioned many times over the past 3+ years in discussions on the Top100 leaderboard posts and recently by @nigelfreeney in his comment on the August Star Photos Leaderboards post. 360 Spheres were also recently mentioned in discussions with @LudwigGermany and @AT_Rome .
So adopting that old English expression in for a penny, in for a pound which basically means that we should finish what we have started no matter how difficult, this new post is dedicated to star 360 spheres. To not unnecessarily add additional workload in the generation of this special class of photo contributions, I had thought to integrate this class with the star photos stream however, when I canvassed this idea with a number of Top 100 participating Local Guides, the consensus was that given each class has it’s own unique features and issues, 360 Spheres should have their own place and this post is that place. While similar in many ways to the star photos and star videos album posts, this post is dedicated to showcasing Local Guide 360 Spheres.
2 - Questions:
Firstly, because we want this post to very much look like an album, if you have any questions or wish to comment about star 360 spheres generally, or the specific star 360 spheres in this album, or on how to participate here or on the Top 100 leaderboards, then please don’t add these in comments in this post. Instead, add them in a comment on the recently renamed Discussion on Star Photos, Videos & 360 Spheres post, a post specifically setup for this purpose. Please note that any such comments added here will be moved to the special discussion post.
3 - Steps to add your star 360 sphere:
To participate, you need to take a screenshot of your star sphere thumbnail shown on Maps and add it in a specially formatted comment on this post. Because we want a consistent format of entries in this album, please follow the basic formatting criteria as outlined below. A good idea is to use the steps mentioned as a checklist and make sure you cover each step. Your screenshot should:
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[20 points] include only one image of your star 360 sphere, clearly showing the current star views overlaid over it. Larger screenshots are best but do not over enlarge your screenshot at the expense of quality/resolution;
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[20 points] only be of your star sphere and not show any Maps details other than those overlaid over your star 360 sphere itself on Maps;
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[10 points] preferably be taken in landscape (more wide than tall) layout as these photos look better than portrait or vertical layout (more tall than wide),
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[10 points] be posted centered,
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[5 points] have only one blank line (i.e. no text) at the top between the screenshot itself and your Connect avatar and post date details,
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[20 points] include a caption using the following format
Caption: Star 360 sphere by @YourConnectUsername of [name of the place] uploaded onto Google Maps on [include date uploaded] and showing star views of [enter star views] as at [include star views date]
Notes:
- If you’re participating in the star 360 sphere leaderboards, the caption to be used will be automatically generated for you
Just copy and paste it with your screenshot; - If you’re adding your screenshot on a desktop PC then add the caption as part of the Insert Photos process so that it is better integrated with the screenshot itself.
- If you’re participating in the star 360 sphere leaderboards, the caption to be used will be automatically generated for you
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[10 points] The caption shows the correct star date & star views (screenshot) date.
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[10 points] The star views shown on your caption must be the same as that shown on your screenshot and if you’re a Top 100 Local Guides leaderboard participant, it must also be equal to the star views you have entered for your star 360 sphere on the Top 100 System!
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[5 point] Add one blank after your image and caption but not before!
Note: The Connect editor at times adds extra blank lines and for best readability on mobile devices we don’t want these extra blank lines, thank you! So after you save your screenshot post, check it and if you see too many blank lines, delete them. In my own screenshot post here, for better readability I have also added one blank line at the end of my screenshot post
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[20 points] Add the name of the place, city and country as a heading and that heading must be the shared link of your star 360 sphere on Maps. Interested Local Guides can then simply select your heading to visit and view your star 360 sphere on Maps.
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[20 points] Immediately under the heading (no blank lines before) tell the story about your star 360 sphere or the place etc. This is important so make it interesting so others, including Search Engine robots, will enjoy reading and like your story and you just never know your star 360 sphere might be featured in other places on Connect as well as the Web and thus build on its impact.
Things you could mention include:
(a) Is this your best 360 sphere ?
(b) Was this just a point and shoot 360 sphere ?
(c) The camera you used. Mention the brand name and model (e.g. Canon, EOS 7D or Google Pixel 6a ) so for example, don’t just say “I took this photo using my smartphone”, be more specific.
Important Notes:
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After adding your star 360 sphere screenshot, you should check it on both mobile and a PC for formatting and consistency (especially line spacing). You will be able to compare yours with others in the album;
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The points shown in red against each of the above requirements (maximum 150), are used to measure how well your star 360 sphere screenshot fits in with the specified formatting criteria and is explained in more detail in the Discussion on Star Photos, Videos & 360 Spheres post.
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Why did I say use your imagination and make the story about your star 360 sphere or the place or meal etc interesting so others, including Search Engine robots, will enjoy reading it? It’s because our contributions are not only shown in this album on Connect, they are also shown in the public domain and therefore will end up on general Google Search Results Pages (SERPs) etc. If we make our descriptions interesting, this will help generate generic “hits” to our 360 spheres which means more views.
So when writing your description for your star 360 sphere screenshot, think of it as a mini post of it’s own. Give it some thought, make it interesting but there’s no need to go overboard!!!
4 Examples of star 360 sphere screenshots
For a great example of how to post your screenshot of your star video, I encourage you to check out the 360 spheres by fellow Connect Moderator @LightRich and @AT_Rome .
5 - Updating your star 360 sphere :
From time to time you might wish to edit or update your star 360 sphere. For example, you have made a mistake in your post or the star views may have increased or you might even have a new star 360 sphere! Simple! There are two different scenarios here, (a) editing or updating your existing star 360 sphere and (b) adding a new star 360 sphere!
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when editing or updating your existing star 360 sphere you simply re-visit your existing entry in this post and update it using either of the two procedures mentioned in Sections 5.1 and 5.2 below, which as you can see depends on whether you are or are not currently participating on the Top 100 Local Guides leaderboards.
** It’s important to note that when editing or updating your existing star 360 sphere you must not start a new comment for this.
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when adding a new star 360 sphere, you add it in a new comment on this post following the steps detailed in Section #3 above.
5.1 Participant on the Top 100 Local Guides leaderboards
- Visit your Maps profile and take a new screenshot of your new or current star 360 sphere thumbnail showing the current star views and in the format as specified in points 1 to 3 of the formatting criteria in section 3 above.
- Update your star 360 sphere details on the Top 100 Local Guides system.
- Copy the caption suggested on the Top 100 Local Guides system
- If you are adding a new star 360 sphere as described in point 5(b) above then add this in a new comment in this post following the steps detailed in Section 3 above and then go to step 16 below. If on the other hand you editing or updating your existing star 360 sphere (see point 5(a) above) then continue on with the following steps.
- Find your star 360 sphere as you previously added in this album post.
- Select the ellipsis menu (3 blue dots)
- Select Edit Reply
- Select the screenshot of your star 360 sphere
- Select the pencil icon to activate the edit function
- Delete your old star 360 sphere screenshot
- Add the new screenshot showing the updated star 360 sphere views
- Paste the caption copied at step 3 above.
- Select Done
- You could add in your description a brief mention of the change in *360 sphere’*s star views for example:
Date Star views
Feb 2023 540,000
Mar 2033 765,000
Apr 2023 867,050 - Select Save Changes
- Job done! Grab a coffee!!
5.2 Non-participant on the Top 100 Local Guides leaderboards
- Visit your Maps profile and take a new screenshot of your new or current star 360 sphere thumbnail showing the current star views and in the format as specified in points 1 to 3 of the formatting criteria in section 3 above.
- Find your star 360 sphere as you previously added in this album post.
- Select the ellipsis menu (3 blue dots)
- Select Edit Reply
- Select the screenshot of your star 360 sphere
- Select the pencil icon to activate the edit function
- Take a copy of the current caption
- Delete your old star 360 sphere screenshot
- Add the new screenshot showing the new or updated star 360 sphere views
- Paste back the old caption
- Update the star views and star views date on the caption
- Select Done
- Select Save Changes
- Job done! Grab a coffee
6 - The Top 100 Local Guides Star 360 sphere leaderboards:
As mentioned in the introduction above, as well as adding your star 360 sphere in this album, if you wish, you can also join the soon to be released Top 100 Local Guides Star 360 sphere leaderboards. If you wish to join this fun, motivational and educational adjunct to this post, then hit this link. As well as the Star 360 sphere leaderboards, you will also see how you can join other Top 100 Local Guides leaderboards, namely the Points, Photo Views and Countries focused leaderboards which are described here.
7 - Conclusion
OK so now let’s start learning what are the best type of 360 spheres to contribute to Maps. In the meantime, if you have any questions then add them in the Discussion on Star Photos, Videos & 360 Spheres post.
I do hope that you will join me and the many other Local Guides interesting in learning how to improve the quality of our 360 sphere contributions to Maps.
