I also track my Million photo views the old fashioned way. Click on photo views and hit Search by views. I added to a Google sheet and update once a month. There was talk some time ago about setting up a Million photo views Leaderboard, but I think Adam has enough on his plate right now.
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Interesting questions Steve. If you count me as one whoās been around for years (9 to be exact), my activity level only ramped up in the last 3 years, so Iām not much different to you really.
My record keeping is all manual, but of course I only have 850 photos to your 8,500. Predicting which photos will gain traction is almost impossible as some seem to go through changes based on how many photos are already posted for the location, and what new photos get added by others afterwards.
For what you call young photos, the 1% increase is easier to attain than on an older photo with lots of views already. Congratulations on your 107 photos over a million views. I only have three at that level, so i donāt think yours is a lean performance at all.
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@tony_b , @WilfriedB , @TerryPG , @Rednewt74 ,
Thanks guys for all the useful info. FOOD related pics always seem to get the best traction for me. Next time I look, Iāll tally what percentage of my M+ photos are Restaurant/Food related storefront pics. Iāll bet itās between 80-90%. @tony_b, I KNOW youāre not a fan of the touristy restaurants on your island, BUT, the way I look at it is thisā¦ If youāre wanting to help as many people as possible (on your island), REFRESH the storefronts that get the most traction. When I started this āprojectā a year and a half ago, I had NO IDEA what types of photos would work, and photographed pretty much everything until I had concrete results. Food wins by a landslide. Here on the mainland, itās FAST food, because so many people are getting meals on the go, and probably donāt have the time or patience to prepare in advance, or cook when other quick options are available. - Steve
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Some of you were wondering, why I upload ten pictures, provided I do have enough non-redundant for the same venue. This is the reason: To find out what works and what doesnāt.
@tony_b , @shunsader , @TerryPG , @Rednewt74
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No @TerryPG , it was @StephanFink , @Yaryman heard it from me 
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Sounds like weāre the same in that regard. EVERY storefront was shot from left, center and right. If the front was in question, OR, I knew it was a high traffic store, I took more. After cropping and editing for contrast, etc, all were posted. I came back a couple days and deleted those which didnāt get any traction. Iād leave the couple/few if they all got traction, and would return in a week or 2, and delete all but one or 2 photos. I caught a bit of Connect backlash for submitting āduplicateā photos, but my justification was that if there werenāt any distinct rules as to what Googleās algo wanted, why not provide them with a menu that they could choose from, and Iād discard the rest. Iām not sure what the problem with that methodology is/was. Ultimately, Google got to keep the pic it saw fit to best represent that storefront. @Rednewt74 @TerryPG @tony_b @nigelfreeney
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I never did, unless it really was a duplicate or very redundant. Instead, I realized over time multiple pictures are moving up and down the āfeaturedā list frequently. So, I keep watching them.
@shunsader @Rednewt74 @TerryPG @tony_b @nigelfreeney
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@shunsader,
yet another great topic!
I think, I mentioned, I created an inventory of my photos including the information whether, when and where (permalink) I did post any of my images. While collecting the Maps related information, I realized how many duplicates did exist without me be aware of.
Now, I can compare side by side on the PC what I already posted and what would be still possible without being redundant.
@Rednewt74 @TerryPG @tony_b @nigelfreeney
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@WilfriedB,
I too, created a log near the end of my Maps journey. Weather, etc. I ALSO found MyMaps to be incredibly helpful. It allowed me to find and pin with specialized pins all the stores which helped me find todayās most frequently visited stores (here in the US: Ulta, Nordstrom Rack, Chick-Fil-A as a starting point). I color coded each area, and when finished, I changed the icon to purple, indicating that Iād already been there. Seems like a bit of a waste at the moment, since Iām not doing this anymore. Iām SURE that I have multiple times the amount Iāve done documented for future use. HOPING that if things donāt change too much, that Iāll have time to be doing this again in a couple years. Hereās a sample map. Whatās nice is the list it creates, which one can put into folders for better organization, and the ability to turn specific folders on/off. - Steve
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@Rednewt74,
Thanks. Not really caring about tracking individual photos, just curious how @WilfriedB was getting his data, as well as @tony_b
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I fully agree with you, Steve. Food-related photos are getting the most views. Also, now that the first views of a photo are not as instant as they were in the past, my food-related photos get the earliest views - possibly same-day, while other photos still take 5 to 7 days to show view counts.
This matter of the restaurants tourists visit, seems to be a recurring theme. I occasionally get an outdoor storefront photo of one of those, but thereās not much chance Iād be doing the inside. My success is with ordinary fast-food restaurants.
I see the explanation by @WilfriedB for posting 10 photos to one POI. My āphotographyā tends to be more of a snap-and-run type of operation, and I wonāt be sticking around long enough to take 10 well-chosen and carefully focused pics.
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A recurring topic! I agree āfood relatedā, but not necessarily pictures showing food! The majority among my top 30 shows the interior of the restaurant and I just made an interesting discovery:
Wondering why this photo shows a big number of views, I looked for it under the āAllā tab of the restaurant and eventually gave up scrolling down. But I did find it at position 7 under āAtmosphƤreā (āVibeā) tab (not sure what the English term is).
@tony_b , @shunsader, @TerryPG , @Rednewt74 ,
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Wilfred,
I agree that food often does well, both as a photo or video. I also have a number of interior video pans that have been popular. I believe the English translation of your word is atmosphere or Vibe perhaps in Google Maps lingo (Jargon)
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Thanks Alfred!
Somehow, I was guessing Google wouldnāt choose the direct translation 
and the term āVibeā was new to me. A common difficulty when dealing with UIs for different languages.
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Agreed @shunsader the large majority of my old photos, over 70% are food related photos. Luckily for me Walmart has been very good for me, with 9 of my top 25 photos are exterior Walmart Photos.
Interestingly thou āWalmartā is one of the top searched businessās on Google.
This years numbers all top 9 food related.
@tony_b , @WilfriedB , @TerryPG , @Rednewt74 ,
[/quote]
Part of the reason I think is thatās all the photos I took years ago, Now I have expanded and found I am getting good results in photos of Banks, Grocery and drug stores.
Thanks Alfred for explaining The āVibeā
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Quite the opposite for me, Terry. I never really focused much on food-related photos in my early years until I started interacting with Connect and the Top100 Leaderboards crowd. As a result, my highest viewed photos (posted 5 years ago) are a hardware store and a discount membership shopping store.
Having started videos much more recently though, my highest viewed videos are indeed food-related.
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@tony_b,
Could beā¦but you could use my work as a pretty good reference point (All in the US). All 8,550 businesses were shot within 6 months. I took photos of pretty much any type of businessā¦hotels, rental car agencies, airlines, airports, fast food, fine restaurants, health and fitness, dentists, nail salons, tattooists, tax services, hospitals, emergency centersā¦if it was in the area I chose that day, it got photographed. 99+ % were Store Front photosā¦not that of food itself.
I think I mentioned to @TerryPG or @WilfriedB that I should investigate closer percentagesā¦so hereās the raw data, percentages follow:
Hereās whatās shown in the NOW 111 photos (was 107 last time I looked) that have over a million views:
1 - Costco (remember, 3.6M views in just 44 days)
2-16 - Restaurants/Fast Food
17 - City Information Center for Half Moon Bay, CA
18-20 - Restaurants/Fast Food
21 - Footlocker shoe store
22-60 - Restaurants/Fast Food
61 - Footlocker (2nd location)
62 - Restaurants/Fast Food
63 - Nordstrom - Department Store
64 - Restaurants/Fast Food
65 - Express Department Store
66-73 - Restaurants/Fast Food
73 - Crate & Barrel - Home Goods
74-76 - Restaurants/Fast Food
77 - Menās Wearhouse - Menās Clothing
78-85 - Restaurants/Fast Food
86 - Windsor - Womenās Clothing
87-91 - Restaurants/Fast Food
92 - Hobby Lobby - Craft Store
93-97 - Restaurants/Fast Food
98 - Ethan Allen - Furniture Store
99 - Office Depot - Office Supplies
100-111 - Restaurants/Fast Food
Thus:
87% of list is Restaurants/Fast Food
95% of first 60 is Restaurants/Fast Food
Iām NOT suggesting that everyone viewing this stop shooting everything else, just pointing out that if youāre going to canvas an area, make sure it includes food establishments. - Steve @Rednewt74 @nigelfreeney
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Very interesting Steve. That was a very intense 6 month blitz, and the evidence certainly speaks for itself.
This discussion reminds me of something Iāve been thinking. Different people come to Maps in different ways, and focus on different things. Today i interacted with an LG who made it all the way to Level 8 with no photos or videos. His points came primarily from Answers, Edits, Facts Checked, and a few Reviews.
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Steve, @tony_b, @TerryPG, et all:
I am truly loving this discussion and believe it to be important and it has brought back some of my interest in Connect.
That being said, about 25 replies ago we hijacked this post from being about having trouble finding the Leaderboards to a thoughtful and fascinating conversation about our best performing media posts and various approaches to being a local guide.
- Just now I scrolled back to my earliest photo which is 8 years old.
- I was invited to be a local guide in the fall of 2016.
- In May 2023 (the month after I joined T100 and Connect) I wrote a post
- Developing a more thoughtful approach to being a local guide
I really think that we need a new post
where we can continue this discussion and respectful sharing of experiences and stats.
I am going to go back and look at what I shot in the beginning, - when did I post my first food shot,
- shots that I posted that make no sense at all.
I will tag you when it is up, but as we approach the Christmas season it might be a while. Maybe one of you will beat me to it.
Best Regards to everyone.
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Also applies to me:
Until now, I never made any trip just for Maps. Since more than half a century, I always took many photos and now appreciate to publish some of them for something meaningful. Only once in a while writing a review after visiting a restaurant or a new store. Only recently, I frequently open the mobile app for āFact checkā and Q&A.
@tony_b @shunsader @Rednewt74 @nigelfreeney
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