Requesting Recognition and Opportunities – A Passionate Local Guide

Hello amazing Local Guides team and community :globe_showing_europe_africa:,

My name is Sajed Sabbagh, and I’ve been an active Local Guide for some time now. Contributing to Google Maps through reviews, photos, and information gives me joy and purpose. It’s not just about places — it’s about people, experiences, and helping others explore the world more confidently.

I truly love photography and storytelling. Every photo I upload is a reflection of a moment I wanted to share with the world — with care, detail, and passion.

I kindly hope that my contributions and effort will be recognized, not only through points or perks, but by being part of something greater: a community that values impact, creativity, and commitment.

Looking forward to connecting more, learning, and contributing even further.

Warm regards,
Sajed Sabbagh
Local Guide

Hi @SajedSabbagh,

Welcome to Connect. You have found the right place when you wish to interact with fellow Local Guides from around the world.

I noticed that you like taking photos and sharing them on Maps.

If you want, I could give you some tips on how to follow the photo guidelines and get more photo views on Maps.

To get integrated, please search and read a lot here on Connect. Most topics have already been discussed at length. Then start sharing your questions and experiences with Maps to interact with fellow LGs. Please also comment and react to what others post.

Cheeers

Yeah @SajedSabbagh is welcome aboard!
Congratulations :clap: for your achievements so far…
Note that for the next part you can count on the community as well.
#LG.

Herzlich Willkommen :folded_hands: @SajedSabbagh

A very warm welcome to you @SajedSabbagh :tada:

Thank you so much @MortenCopenhagen for the warm welcome and your kind offer!
Yes, I’d love to learn more about photo guidelines and how to increase my views on Maps—any tips would be truly appreciated.

Thank you also @Laurent @Annaelisa @Shaunak for your encouragement. :blush:
Looking forward to contributing more and growing within this amazing community!

Warm regards,
Sajed Sabbagh
Level 9 Local Guide

Hi @SajedSabbagh

I took a quick look at your latest photos on Maps. It is nice to see photos from close to my country.

The purpose of Maps photos is to be helpful to Maps users. And there are some guidelines you might have missed.

You have uploaded 8 red flower photos to https://maps.app.goo.gl/aUcexKn7E7zSQo737 and then you uploaded the same set of photos to https://maps.app.goo.gl/FYuZbAy4HpaQFced7

Uploading duplicates across places is clearly a violation of the guidelines.

Further, the first two photos are essentially showing the same flowers just at different zoom levels.

These are considered similar or redundant photos, which are also not allowed. A user interested in zooming in can easily do so themselves. You should remove the more zoomed-in photos.

These two photos are also redundant. Delete one of them, please.

Our photos should clearly show the places. One could argue that close-up photos of flowers do not clearly give Maps users information about the places.

Your photos include an advertisement for your phone. Strictly, it is only okay to have one line of relevant text along one of the sides.

Next, you uploaded 6 zoomed-in photos to the fast food restaurant Subway.

In my opinion, none of these show the restaurant. The last 3 images are so unsharp that anyone could flag them for removal.

Another guideline states that we should avoid uploading dark photos. Even though you have a nice camera in your phone,

All your photos uploaded to https://maps.app.goo.gl/XcJ2vD4gV1YYDYJw6 are taken at night. The problem is that they do not clearly show the places as if you had taken them during the day. When you visit the place Centrum on Maps, you will find that very few or none of your night photos are listed early in the list of photos uploaded to Centrum. This indicates that the photo selection AI has given your photos a low score, hence they are unlikely to get a lot of views. I believe some of those night photos have been uploaded more than once.

I created a tutorial on getting more photo views with a ton of tips on how to take and edit Maps photos. Please see:

https://www.localguidesconnect.com/t/storefront-photography-series-index/387319

Thank you so much @MortenCopenhagen for your honest feedback and time.

I understand now that some of my uploaded photos may not align with the guidelines. I’ll go through them and remove anything that’s not helpful for users or the platform.

I truly appreciate your advice — it’s how I can grow and become a better Local Guide. Looking forward to improving and contributing more meaningfully.

Best regards,
Sajed Sabbagh

Sounds great. Take your time and do also spend some time studying the guidelines. Most photo guidelines are explained in the tutorial I shared a link to..