[New Idea] Putting Street Vendors / Micro Business on the the Google Maps: A Local Guide’s Vision

[NandKK]

The Street Vendor & Micro-Business Initiative

Hi fellow Local Guides, Connect Moderators and Google Moderators

Namaste from India

Inspired by a Message from Local Guides Official WhatsApp!

Today, I received an exciting message on my WhatsApp from the official Local Guides Connect channel. The message highlighted how Local Guides play a vital role in supporting local businesses by adding photos, reviews, menus, and helpful details on Google Maps.

It reminded me of something very important:

What about the thousands of street vendors and micro-businesses around us?

These hardworking individuals—selling tea, snacks, handmade goods, mobile repairs, and more—often don’t have:

• A formal shop address
• A Google Business Profile
• A presence on Google Maps at all

Yet they serve millions of customers every day, forming the backbone of our local economy

The Problem - In many parts of the world — especially in my country India — what I have observed that - millions of street vendors and small micro-businesses operate every day without a digital presence.

These include local food stalls, handmade craft sellers, garment sellers, pushcarts, tea vendors, and others who:

• Don’t have a formal shop or registered address
• Keep changing their location slightly (within the same zone)
• Are invisible on Google Maps—making them hard to find for locals and tourists alike

This creates a huge gap on Google Maps, where real-life experiences are missing from the digital map.

The Core Idea

Let’s make street vendors and micro-stalls visible on Google Maps by introducing a new feature designed just for them.

How It Can Work

1. New Business Category:
   Add a unique category—“Street Vendor” or “Micro-Stall”—that doesn’t require a formal address.

2. Trusted Local Guide Verifiers:
   Let experienced contributors (Level 10+ Local Guides) apply to become “Micro-Business Verifiers.”

3. Adding Vendors to Maps:
   Verifiers can:

• Pin the usual location of the vendor (even without a formal address)
• Add photos of the stall, menu/items, and surroundings
• Mention typical working hours and type of business (food, craft, service, etc.)

4. Special Badge System:
   Add a visible tag like:
   “Verified by a Level 10 Local Guide” — boosting trust for users

5. Re-Verification System:
   To keep listings fresh, require these entries to be re-verified every 3–6 months by the community.

Why This Is Powerful

• Social Impact: Uplifts the informal economy by giving visibility to small vendors

• More Accurate Maps: Adds local flavor and real-world relevance to Google Maps

• Empowers Local Guides: Gives senior contributors a meaningful, impactful role

• Supports Tourists & Locals: Helps people find authentic street food, local crafts, and hidden gems

• Google Benefits Too: Increased usage, data quality, and engagement on the platform

This initiative can become a game-changer for Google Maps—helping it evolve into a more inclusive, community-powered platform that reflects real economies, not just big brands.

Let’s bridge the digital gap and make every business—big or small—findable, searchable, and celebrated.

Tagging few Moderators for their overview on this post -
@DeniGu , @Latika_Malhotra , @Julie_A , @MoniDi , @ErmesT , @MortenCopenhagen , @LuigiZ , @TusharSuradkar , @NareshDarji

[ShreyaMusings]

This is a very good thought @NandKK but hear me out street vendors most of them have a registeration number if you can update that with there location everytime as a street vendor it is trackable
What do you think?
Let me tag @RosyKohli on this because she can answer this

[ReshamDas]

This is an amazing idea, encouraged by the message we all got from the Local Guides account on WhatsApp. @NandKK ji, can we plan some Local Business Mapping walks in Kolkata, so that active Local Guides from the WBLG community gets to learn this in-hand?

[MortenCopenhagen]

There is no doubt that a new stall category could be a great solution. But keep in mind that this has been suggested repeatedly and Google must have made a deliberate decision not to add this new category. I can only speculate on the reasons:

Google Maps is invented in the USA and reflects the American culture where stalls are not as big and important as in other countries.

To keep the data quality high Google wants to accept only “serious” businesses and not small businesses with no phone number, not found in official business directories and no website. Maps is using such phone directories, websites, and business directories to validate the existence of new businesses. So if small stalls have no phone that can be reverse looked up to match the address, Google have fewer ways to make sure new places actually exist. Another way to put is: the more informal businesses that are maybe not a legal entity is easier for Google to reject rather than taking the trouble to validate their existence.

Another theory could be that areas with stalls are found in areas with less profit potential for Google Maps. And maybe fewer Maps users.

I’m just speculating here, I can be wrong and would love to hear your thoughts.

[AjitThite]

@NandKK
You’ve nicely elaborated on the point, which was discussed several times during our meeting, and all of the CMs and GMs are aware of it.

We raised this issue with Google Maps and asked them to look into the respective government’s policies regarding vendor registrations, including street vendors. We had explained that those who had registered with the local authorities and received permission to set up carts or stalls should be included in any suggested categories. Previously, tracing the owners was challenging due to a lack of authentic documents and the fact that they were not stationary enough to be added to the map.eThe ownership authentication part can be reconsidered because most street vendors of any type use the Indian government’s UPI (Unified Payments Interface) payment system, which indirectly authenticates the documentation.Alternatively,
We can add a group at a fixed location, identify it as a mini bazaar, morning bazaar, weekly bazaar, etc., or any preferable tag, and add the regular products available there. It will simplify life for both vendors and customers.

The “Trusted Verifier Badge” for the highest-level local guides will be welcomed but also debatable. Since on-the-spot photos allow Google to verify the coordinates and approve the POI, the level of the local guide does not come into the frame.

It is beneficial to have an open discussion and share individual insights so that we can hopefully reach a conclusion.

Cheers!

[PCoughlin]

Great Idea.

1. Mobile Vendor Registration.
2. Use Registration number to encourage compliance with city ordinances.
3. Owner can Authorize Staff users to update info on the listing.
4. Owner/Staff of the Mobile Vendor can update LIVE Open Close times/status for the current Location.
5. Owner/Staff can update the location using Google Maps on their phone if Logged in and Authorized.
6. The Location/Open status must be verified for the current day and it will disappear if not Verified on that day. It is Mobile and therefore we do not want the location to show up if it is not actually present. No permanent times or locations since it is a Mobile Vendor.
7. Mobile Vendor can have a Category just like permanent stores. Not new category, but different Listing Type. We still need the old category system.
8. I like the special Badge and Re-Verification type system. Level 7+ (Level 10 is too few people, I am Level 6).

This is a great addition for all over the world. There are many people here in New Orleans that have their favorite food trucks and seek them out all over town.

[NareshDarji]

This is a great idea! @NandKK
Highlighting street vendors and micro businesses on Google Maps would really support local economies and help people find hidden gems in their neighbourhoods. But as you know, in our country, the locations of such street vendors are not permanent, which is a big challenge.

I agree with your points @AjitThite, especially about using UPI as a form of indirect authentication—it’s a practical workaround given the documentation challenges many vendors face. Grouping vendors under common tags like “mini bazaar” or “weekly market” is also a smart idea that could make mapping them more structured and helpful for users.

[MortenCopenhagen]

@PCoughlin

I like the special Badge and Re-Verification type system. Level 7+ (Level 10 is too few people, I am Level 6).

In my experience, having a high LG level is not an indicator of trust in the eyes of Google. In stead Google continuously calculate an individual trust score for each Maps user for each type of contributions.

[MortenCopenhagen]

@AjitThite

We can add a group at a fixed location, identify it as a mini bazaar, morning bazaar, weekly bazaar, etc.,

I agree this happens, but I doubt it follows the guidelines.

Please see:

Places you can't add to the map - Google Maps Help

Seasonal/recurring events are mentioned under Non-permanent listings.

That is my interpretation. I could be wrong.

I don’t recall a category called “Weekly Bazar or Market”.

Google uses the list of 4000+ categories to communicate what places/businesses can be added to Maps: If the specific category is not available this is Google Maps way of saying “Please do not add this place”. Creative use of categories will often result in such places being taken down sooner or later.

Also, resorting to using a less specific category is not a sustainable solution.

If you want a deeper understanding of the categories please see this tool.

[Gvipin]

Namaste @NandKK

Thank you for sharing this thoughtful and impactful idea! I truly appreciate your efforts in highlighting the need to support street vendors and micro-businesses through Google Maps.

I also support this initiative wholeheartedly and believe it can make a real difference. Grateful to all the Moderators and fellow Local Guides backing this vision. Together, let’s make every local business visible!

This will be very helpful to Street Vendors.

Request our Google and Connect Moderators to think and take view on this.

[SaylliWalve1]

Fantastic idea @NandKK spotlighting street vendors and micro‑stalls is a powerful way to make Google Maps more inclusive and socially impactful.

[Saddam_1]

Hello @NandKK I really appreciate your effort but their are several problem.
Thousand of roadside food stall open and closed every day in entire India.
If we do this, the data on Google Maps will not remain authentic. What will happen to the quality of Google Map because of this? Suppose you added a new business today, tomorrow it gets dislocated or closed, then what?
We, local guides try every day to keep the data of Google Map authentic, spam-free and updated.

[NandKK]

Thank you so much for your valuable input @ShreyaMusings

You’re absolutely right — many street vendors now have registration under schemes like PM SVANidhi in India or local municipal licenses in other regions. If we can combine that registration info with their usual business location and mark it on Google Maps, it would definitely improve traceability and authenticity.

The idea of linking a verified vendor ID with a mapped spot is powerful — it could also help prevent duplicate or fake listings and allow better support from authorities or customers.

I’m really glad you brought this up.
Tagging @RosyKohli as you suggested—looking forward to her thoughts on how we can make this idea more practical and scalable.

Thanks again for joining the conversation.

[NandKK]

@ReshamDas

@NandKK ji, can we plan some Local Business Mapping walks in Kolkata, so that active Local Guides from the WBLG community gets to learn this in-hand?

Thank you so much for your kind words and encouragement @ReshamDas ji

Yes, absolutely. I love your suggestion! Organizing Local Business Mapping Walks in Kolkata sounds like a fantastic way to turn this idea into action. It would be a great opportunity for WBLG community members to collaborate, learn hands-on mapping techniques, and contribute meaningfully by supporting street vendors and micro-businesses.

Let’s definitely explore how we can plan the first walk soon — maybe in areas like Gariahat, New Market, or Esplanade where there’s a high density of vendors. I’d be happy to coordinate with you and other active Local Guides to make this happen.

Looking forward to taking this ahead together!

[NandKK]

@MortenCopenhagen

I’m just speculating here, I can be wrong and would love to hear your thoughts.

Thank you so much for your thoughtful insights, @MortenCopenhagen Sir

I truly appreciate you taking the time to explain the possible reasoning behind Google’s current stance. You’re absolutely right — validation, data quality, and platform reliability are critical, and the lack of consistent identifiers like phone numbers or official registrations does pose a challenge when it comes to informal businesses.

Your point about cultural influence is particularly eye-opening. It’s true that the scale and importance of street vendors in regions like South Asia, Latin America, and parts of Africa may not be fully reflected in the original Google Maps design logic, which is rooted in a very different context.

That said, I still believe this is a gap worth bridging — perhaps through a community-powered model where trusted Local Guides (Level 10 and above) act as verifiers, as I mentioned in the post. It wouldn’t be a perfect system, but maybe a good starting point to bring these grassroots businesses into the digital fold gradually, with safeguards in place.

I’m really grateful for your perspective, and I look forward to hearing more thoughts from experienced minds like yours. Thank you again!

[NandKK]

@AjitThite

The “Trusted Verifier Badge” for the highest-level local guides will be welcomed but also debatable. Since on-the-spot photos allow Google to verify the coordinates and approve the POI, the level of the local guide does not come into the frame.

Thank you so much for your detailed and insightful response, @AjitThite ji

I truly appreciate your kind words and the depth of context you’ve added from past discussions with CMs and GMs. It’s encouraging to know that this important issue has been consistently raised at different levels, and that efforts have already been made to align with government policies regarding vendor registrations.

Your point about UPI usage as a form of indirect authentication is absolutely brilliant — it’s a practical and locally relevant approach that balances flexibility with legitimacy. The idea of mapping a group under collective tags like “mini bazaar,” “morning market,” or “weekly haat” is also very innovative and could help bypass the challenges of pinning ever-moving vendors individually, while still giving visibility to the ecosystem.

I also take your point about on-the-spot photos and POI verification seriously. Perhaps, instead of focusing solely on Local Guide levels, we can emphasize community accountability and proper documentation while suggesting listings — that way, quality remains consistent and inclusive.

Grateful to be part of this open dialogue with experienced contributors like you. I truly believe that with such constructive conversations, we can shape a more inclusive and practical mapping solution for the informal sector. Let’s keep the momentum going!

[Annaelisa]

Es ist grundsätzlich eine gute Idee bei dem feste Standzeiten und Orte wichtig sind @NandKK
Ich habe letztlich so einen Straßen Verkäufer auf Google Maps eingefügt.
Ich denke mit den richtigen Ideen lässt sich auch dieses Problem lösen.

https://goo.gl/maps/ytZQFMthJQsD23bT7?g_st=ac

[fayayolla]

Thank you Mr @NandKK for that good idea.
I would like to ask you. How can I be in the Local Guides WhatsApp group?

[NandKK]

Thank you so much for your thoughtful input and encouragement, @PCoughlin

I really appreciate how you’ve expanded the idea with such practical and actionable suggestions — especially the LIVE status update and daily verification mechanism for mobile vendors. That’s a brilliant way to ensure real-time accuracy while maintaining map integrity.

The idea of empowering owners and their authorized staff to manage listings dynamically through their logged-in Google accounts is also spot on. It brings accountability while giving flexibility to these ever-moving businesses.

You’re right — instead of a whole new category, a “different listing type” for mobile vendors under the existing system makes perfect sense. That approach would ensure smoother integration without disrupting the current taxonomy.

And yes, I completely agree — expanding the Trusted Verifier concept to Level 7+ would make it more inclusive and scalable while still maintaining quality.

It’s exciting to hear this idea resonates even across the world in places like New Orleans — food trucks and local vendors really are the soul of our cities!

Thanks again for your valuable thoughts — they add so much strength to this conversation.

[NandKK]

@NareshDarji

But as you know, in our country, the locations of such street vendors are not permanent, which is a big challenge.

Thank you so much for your kind words and encouragement, @NareshDarji bhai

You’ve rightly pointed out one of the biggest challenges — the non-permanent nature of street vendors’ locations. But I truly believe that this very challenge can also be an opportunity to innovate within the Google Maps ecosystem.

That’s why the idea includes elements like community-led verification, time-based visibility, and the possibility of pinning typical or frequently used zones — even if they aren’t tied to a fixed address. Think of it more like “mapping patterns” rather than pinning rigid locations.

I absolutely agree with you and @AjitThite dada on the power of using UPI as an indirect form of authentication. It’s a digital footprint that’s uniquely relevant in our context and shows that even informal businesses can have a traceable presence.

The suggestion to use group identifiers like “mini bazaar,” “weekly haat,” or “morning market” is an excellent middle ground that adds structure without forcing a rigid system onto a flexible reality.

Together, these layered approaches — combining location habits, community verifications, digital payment identifiers, and grouped tagging — could form a holistic way forward.

Grateful for your thoughts and support in shaping this vision further! Let’s keep the conversation going.