My Google Maps profile is set to public, but it still appears private to others

Hi everyone,

I have a question about the visibility of my Google Maps profile.

Even though my “Public profile” option is turned on and “Restricted profile” is turned off, my profile still appears closed or private to other people.

I’m a Local Guide Level 8 with many contributions (reviews and photos), and I’ve already checked the following:

  • Tried on different devices and browsers (desktop and mobile);

  • Confirmed that my profile is set to public;

  • My profile is not new and has a lot of activity;

  • Cleared cache and reinstalled the app.

Does anyone know if this could be related to an automatic quality or spam filter from Google?

And is there a way to request a manual review to restore full visibility of my profile?

7 Likes

Hi @luanabedin

This sounds strange. Let me take a look.

But first, please let me know where you found the Maps setting re public profile. I’m very familiar with the restricted profile setting.

This is what I see when I open your profile:

Your profile is not restricted by the restricted profile setting, since your photo updates show. But when I tap to see your 4 photo updates nothing shows up.

Was it you who earlier today shared that you got all the master badges in less than a year?

Maybe you focussed more on quantity and less on quality, and this could explain why the spamfilter took down all your photos and reviews.

The guidelines for photos and reviews are quite elaborate and not very well communicated, so it is easy to make mistakes, and all the praise emails do not depend on the quality of your contributions.

I would suggest you first try this appeals form:

And when you get an email response. Please share the text below and tag me.

Then we will take it from there. It usually takes a few days.

Olá @luanabedin ,

Bem vinda a comunidade!

Em complemento ao que o @MortenCopenhagen sugeriu e que acho ser um ótimo ponto de partida, vale ressaltar a importância das boas práticas de acordo com as diretrizes. Quantidade grande de imagens muito parecidas, que difere pouco no ângulo das capturas, selfies, avaliações mais genéricas, tudo isso poderia, por exemplo, influenciar negativamente .

Faz tempo seu perfil está “oculto”?

Há alguma avaliação sua que uma outra pessoa consegue ver diretamente no perfil do local avaliado? Ou alguma imagem visível por terceiros direto no perfil do local?

Se quiser compartilhar algum link para tentarmos ver por aqui como aparece.

Como é seu primeiro post também, fica a sugestão de se apresentar para a comunidade por esse post aqui :slight_smile:

Hi,

Thank you so much for your reply — and sorry for the delay in getting back to you!

But first, please let me know where you found the Maps setting re public profile.
You can find it here: side menu > My Contributions > Profile settings.

But when I tap to see your 4 photo updates, nothing shows up.
Actually, there are many more than just 4 photos.

Was it you who mentioned you got all the master badges in less than a year?
No, that wasn’t me.

Maybe you focused more on quantity than quality, and this could explain why the spam filter took down your photos and reviews.
Do you think that reviews like these could be an example of that?

And when you get an email response, please share the text below and tag me.
I’ll do that, thank you again for your help!

Thanks.

The two settings are exactly the same. One is in the app, and the other is on Maps for computers.

Sorry about the mixup.

Those 4 reviews are very good. Keep it up.

1 Like

Oi, muito obrigada por sua resposta.

Você mencionou que uma grande quantidade de fotos muito parecidas, selfies ou avaliações genéricas pode influenciar negativamente.
Você acredita que avaliações como estas se enquadram nesse caso — como exemplos de foco em quantidade mais do que em qualidade?

Faz tempo que seu perfil está “oculto”?
Para ser honesta, só percebi isso recentemente — mas acredito que sempre esteve assim.

Há alguma avaliação sua que uma outra pessoa consegue ver diretamente no perfil do local avaliado? Ou alguma imagem visível por terceiros direto no perfil do local?
Sim. Verifiquei todos os lugares que avaliei usando o perfil do meu marido. Dentre todos, apenas 18 avaliações não aparecem publicamente.

Se quiser compartilhar algum link para tentarmos ver por aqui como aparece.
Claro, aqui estão alguns exemplos:

Como é seu primeiro post também, fica a sugestão de se apresentar para a comunidade por esse post aqui
Obrigada pela sugestão, vou fazer isso.

Legal @luanabedin !

Pra mim essas suas avaliações aparecem sem problemas. E sinceramente, muito bem estruturadas! Não vi nada que na minha opinião seja motivo da ocultação do perfil. Realmente estranho.

Pessoalmente, em uma avaliação como essa Google Maps , eu incluiria apenas uma foto da fila. Por exemplo, a foto de número 8. A foto de número 7 mostra a mesma fila e mesmo ângulo.

Como tem também o vídeo do interior da mesquita que mostra todo o panorama, eu incluiria também apenas uma foto do interior já que as demais são similares e já aparecem no vídeo.

Se tiver algum retorno do Google em relação ao formulário de contestação, e também for possível, compartilha conosco aqui até para entendermos situações como esta tua.

1 Like

Hi, @MortenCopenhagen and @efcxp .

I’m sharing here the message I received from Google Support. I contacted them three times, explaining the issue in detail each time.

In all three replies, I received the exact same answer, saying that there are no restrictions on my account.

On my third attempt, I even mentioned clearly that I had already received the same response twice before and that the problem was still happening — but the third reply was identical again.

Unfortunately, the issue persists and my profile is still hidden.
Any guidance or help would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

2 Likes

Let me try to find escalate this.

@MoniDi

@luanabedin has repeatedly has her profile checked for Post by restrictions.

And her individual reviews and photos are public via direct links and under the places yet the profile remains like this:

We have made sure that it is not related to the Restricted profile settings.

It is unusual that her profile shows a link to 4 photo updates yet nothing show when tapping the Updates heading.

I believe the profile is somehow corrupted
and needs some special attention.

Also, the reviews and photos I have seen seem to be guideline compliant.

3 Likes

Hi @luanabedin,

Thank you for sharing this issue with us. We have forwarded it to the relevant team. If we receive any updates, we will let you know.

@MortenCopenhagen, thank you for tagging me.

3 Likes

Hi @luanabedin,

The relevant team advised that the issue should be fixed. Let us know if you have any questions. Thank you for your patience!

Hi @MoniDi, thanks so much for your attention and for getting back to me. I tested it using my husband’s and my son’s accounts, and my profile finally shows up as public. Thanks again.

Thank you as well, @MortenCopenhagen , for forwarding my case to this support.

3 Likes

Good to know. Thanks.

1 Like