I don’t quite understand what you’re thinking @Peadar. We don’t choose our Star Photos. They’re simply whichever photo has the most views. Mine is certainly not one I would’ve chosen. Still waiting in vain for another of my photos to get nearly as many views as my old ugly one.
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Yes I agree with you @curatorofmemory and especially so with your point about getting a notification of when our media is being featured.
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Thank you so much @PrasadVR, that’s precisely the kind of feedback I’m looking for.
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Thanks for the appreciation @JustJake. Yes not many know of the “Bliss” story. I’d actually wanted to post about it when I first started the most viewed photo leaderboard but somehow it slipped my mind.
Well @Peadar you might recall that back in April I had an idea and wrote the From “Most Viewed” to “Most Loved” Photos: The Wall of Fame post. Unfortunately, lots of things got in my way, some major fires like Maps UI changes and hidden data that stole my time. However, the idea is still there on my to-do list and I promise to revive and finalise it as soon as I can.
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Keep checking @tony_b as I mentioned in my reply to @Annaelisa, it is auto built in and ready.
@StevenBerlin I just know you will be able to do this in just a few minutes. It’s a no brainer. Please let me guide you:
- Simply visit the T100 Leaderboard System
- Select the Star Photo option under the Data Entry item on the main menu.
- Update your star photo details and submit.
- Finally, check the new star photo hi-res gallery.
We’re all waiting to 
to your success.
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Oh thank you so much for your very kind words of appreciation @doni_hariadi. From my end, I just love showcasing the brilliant work and contributions by Local Guides like you from all over the world do in helping Maps users.
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Very quirky 
Thank you @Peadar for your appreciation.
True! I tend to photograph and review less popular places now… @tony_b
I don’t care at all, how popular a place might be @OliverKIWI and @tony_b. I consider it being nothing else but luck whether my photo or review gets many views or none, quickly or months later. Afterwards, I try to guess, why that did happen, but I don’t believe we have any chance to influence for future posts.
Important however, is to watch out for hidden contributions und trying to understand, how to avoid them in the first place.
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@WilfriedB we will just have to try:)
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Thank you @AdamGT for sharing this fascinating piece of history.
The story of “Bliss” beautifully reminds us how simplicity, authenticity, and the right moment can leave a lasting impact. Much like this iconic photo, our everyday contributions as Local Guides help people discover places and make informed decisions. Beyond the views, the real value lies in being useful to someone at just the right moment.
The new interactive galleries are a wonderful addition, celebrating our contributions while making it easier to appreciate the stories behind each photo and video. Looking forward to exploring everyone’s work through the new HUB integration.
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I understand now, @curatorofmemory. But in my case I’m not a photographer posting on Google Maps. I’m a Google Maps user who has been enticed by Google to take photos. I very rarely take photos “for me”. It’s usually all for Google.
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I fully agree with @curatorofmemory on this. Maybe, one day we can convince @tony_b to make photos for himself …? 
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I’ve never owned a camera, and I only started taking photos because my phone can do it. I’ve never been the family photographer. I’ve taken “Work” photos at times based on the needs of my job, but of course there’s no real joy in that. I’m not dismissing your suggestion, but they say, “you can’t teach an old dog new tricks”. I’m certainly not young anymore.
Care to share your favorite photo you uploaded to maps, as you don’t like your ugly star that you have no choice on how many views it gets
Actually @tony_b don’t share now as @AdamGT has a most viewed (star) & most loved (your favorite you uploaded) idea cooking
P
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Extraordinary story of the bliss which I think almost everyone must have viewed it atleast once while using Windows XP. And a perfect way to introduce the star photo and video dashboards @AdamGT
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Okay. We’ll see how this goes @Peadar.
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Did you follow through this suggestion @OliverKIWI ?
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