What does the Local Guides program mean to me?
I always get to answer this question every time I am taking a photo of food or a place. People think I do it for posting on Instagram but I explain to them that I am a local guide and I help make Google Maps better and more accurate. I am trying my best to convince them to become local guides too.
I am from a beautiful city Almaty (Kazakhstan) which is very close to a mountain ridge. In fact you can reach mountains in 20 minutes. But very few people in the world have heard about my country, let alone my city. Unfortunately, my beloved hometown doesn’t have much representation on Google Maps. Very few places and very little useful information about my city is available there. And I am dedicated to changing it. I really hope that my reviews can help tourists to discover nice places in my city. Therefore, I try to insert as much data as possible.
I only have two friends who understand my passion, as they are also local guides and we like to discuss our progress and compete in numbers of views. I love taking pictures of buildings and interesting places, capturing funny moments. For example, this is the photo of a cat laying in Hagia Sophia Mosque in Istanbul, Turkey that I posted in 2016.
I am a Google Maps loyal user myself and I know how helpful it can be. Every time I am in a new city I always check Google Maps for beautiful sights and landmarks. When I want to eat, I check restaurants nearby, comparing prices and reviews. Thus, I am using what other local guides have contributed.
Probably the most challenging part of being a local guide is writing fair reviews - not too strict but not too kind either. The review should be accurate and useful. I understand that my review can affect the decision of tourists, either making their days or ruining it.
The most inspiring part is to see the growing number of views and my monthly Google Maps Timeline report that tells me where I was and how many new places I have visited. I am very happy to be the part of this wonderful community of local guides. I will be over the moon if you choose me to attend the Connect Live 2020 in California.