The Value of Top 100 Local Guides Leaderboards

[Mikeinthefalls]

An image from Top 100 Local Guide Leaderboard (@AdamGT)

This post must begin with a huge kudos to @AdamGT

Without his ingenuity and hard work, we would not have these statistics and opportunities to improve as Local Guides!

I’ve been participating in these boards for over a year and the collective growth & improvement of all involved, has been astronomical.

Today, I’m here to share with you my “Average Photo Views” - Which is simply my total number of photo views, divided by my total number of photos. It’s an unscientific way of determining the effectiveness of the photos you’ve shared to Google Maps.

Our goal as Local Guides is to share photos and reviews that are relevant and have an impact on Maps users, so we want them to be seen! The more relevant Google finds your photo, the more likely it is to be “Featured” and the greater the chance for total views of that photo.

It’s very easy to get into the mode of using Maps as a “Photo Album” and post photos that we PERSONALLY like. I have been guilty of this myself.

But I have taken the time over the last year to remove my photos that were not relevant and essentially “buried” on pages - Meaning they had minimal views and no one was seeing them. I’ve also focused on finding locations that get a high number of views, wherever I travel.

My frequent travel and the research from using the Leaderboards has allowed me to grow my Average Photo Views from 23K to 552K per photo - in just 12 months!

The growth of my Average Photo Views from July 2021 to July 2022.

I would have had to create a database and input hours of data to gain the knowledge I’ve attained from these Leaderboards. In the last year, we’ve grown from stumbling through a very difficult Google Doc, to entering our data into a very simple and user friendly, information packed custom website!

If you truly enjoy being a Local Guide and desire to improve the quality of your posts, I encourage you to come be a part of the Top 100 Local Guides Leaderboards. Here is the link to see what all the excitement is about:

All About The Top 100 Leaderboards

[Mukul_Anand]

Congratulations @Mikeinthefalls for getting this huge amount of views , I’m local guide since 11 months and I have 1.6 million all time views on photos , best of luck buddy .

[Mikeinthefalls]

@Mukul_Anand Thanks so much. Congratulations on your current achievement in photo views… That’s a great number for only 11 months! If they haven’t joined the Leaderboards yet, I suggest you take a few minutes to research and join. You’ll have conversations with Local Guides from around the globe and learn a good bit while doing so.

[TerryPG]

Congrats @Mikeinthefalls I have been lucky enough to have been with @AdamGT since the inception of his leaderboards and enjoyed many conversations and post with other great Local Guides. We all have our favourite numbers from the board, Yours are impressive. I know it keeps us going and motivates us.

If you don’t mine I’ll share a few of mine . I have uploaded over 8,300 photos, have over 581 million views and today passed the average views of over 70,000 views per photos,

Keep up the great work

[AdamGT]

Wow @Mikeinthefalls , that’s appreciation! A BIG thank you! I’m really excited about your astronomical growth and you are so right, “as Local Guides our goal is to share photos and reviews that are relevant and have an impact on Maps users, so we want them to be seen”. Otherwise what’s the point of it all and as Local Guides it’s an awesome feeling when we see that our photos are being viewed by so many people! Millions! We are proud when we see that our photos about a place, a meal or whatever, are being viewed and helpful to someone. Every view counts even in the smallest way so a BIG congratulations on your very impressive achievement and in just 12 months! Well done you!

Finally, as I’ve mentioned before, the aim of these leaderboards has always been to motivate us, help us to think about and monitor our contributions and performance, and show us how to improve and make better contributions so that we achieve better results, and, all in a fun and enjoyable way! Reading your post I can say, mission accomplished!

[AdamGT]

Oh I need to end these leaderboards @TerryPG and spend more time with my camera out there as a Local Guide so that I can catch up to you. Sheesh, impressive numbers again. You guys rock!

[Mikeinthefalls]

@TerryPG Thanks for the appreciation and encouragement… Your numbers are also very impressive! I see you reaching The Billion Views Club in the not to distant future

Yes - The Leaderboards forum is a great source for all involved and working towards personal benchmarks, then seeing them acknowledged is a wonderful motivator!

Looking forward to seeing your continued growth and achievements

[MelTG]

@Mikeinthefalls your growth over the last 12 months is impressive, indeed! I am excited to see what the next 12 months has in store for you!!

And yes …thank you @AdamGT for your dedication to keeping these leaderboards alive and thriving. I get excited each month for the new boards so that I can see how all the guides are contributing to their favorite places as well as seeing their individual growth.

Certainly makes for a fun (and slightly nerdy) hobby

[AdamGT]

Thank you @MelTG . Yes I too like the fun element and it certainly brings out the nerds (not mentioning any names here) and the nerdy element in most of us lol.

[Mikeinthefalls]

@MelTG Thanks so much for your kind words! I think it’s safe to say that you have had quite a year of growth, as well - I’m pretty sure that I noticed you achieved a new record number for AVERAGE VIEWS/PHOTO on the last update? I feel that a congratulations is in store I pay close attention to my views per photo and have watched your number grow exponentially - Congrats and keep posting those great photos!

[Cercis]

@Mikeinthefalls Good encouraging post. Nice to see photos of Cleveland, my birthplace and residence until my early 20s.

[Kwiksatik]

@Mikeinthefalls I LOVE that you use your Maps as a photo album too! It is one of my favorite past-times to cruise my Maps profile and pick out those places hilighted with the “been here” map marker and look at what I contributed to see what I was thinking, feeling, and doing at the time. It is my favorite way to take a walk down memory lane. Your photo-view growth is incredible! You must have done a lot of work to achieve that. Congratulations!

[Mikeinthefalls]

@Kwiksatik Yup, definitely an easy way to highlight and recall the places we’ve traveled! Thanks so much for acknowledging my views - it was certainly a conscious effort, so it’s nice to have the appreciation of other LG that are so engaged! I’m looking forward to checking out your Maps page and catching up on your Connect posts

[Cercis]

@Kwiksatik What is and where can the “been here” map marker be found? Thank you.

[Kwiksatik]

@Cercis it is just my nickname for the little map-marker dots that pop up on locations I have saved to Lists. I make a point of adding “event” locations (like places I go on vacation) to lists so that I can see the dots on the map forever.

[Cercis]

@Kwiksatik Thanks for your reply

[PIB1]

I have After 3-4 years as local guide 120 million wiew at my account, suddenly it grow dramatically. But I wonder: when will I get some benefits for my work for google maps? Do anyone know how I can get that? I would like to get a google photo account for free, because I really take a lot of pictures and until now, I have to pay for my photo account?

[Erna_LaBeau]

Your analytical data is very informative @Mikeinthefalls I would like to check mine as well one day and see what is the average views per photo. I used to be a part of Top 100 by @AdamGT and for some reason, I was out.

Happy weekday ahead!

[AdamGT]

Hi @Erna_LaBeau and thanks for tagging me.

I just checked and do see here that you are correct. Indeed you were part of the Top 100 Local Guide Leaderboards. There were changes made regarding participation on the leaderboards and these changes were announced in various posts on Connect however it would appear that you didn’t follow up on the changes made and hence dropped off the leaderboards. It’s not a problem though, it’s simple to get back on board (haha no pun intended) just hit this link and let’s get you back up to speed. Let me know if you have and questions. I’m here to help.

ps; I see that back in late November 2020 you had an impressive 18,262 average views per photo as Level 8 Local Guide which, much was ,ore than 3 times that of mine, a Level 10 Local Guide so I’m looking forward to seeing your current stats

I should also mention here Erna that there have been significant changes to the leaderboards and the analytical data available from participation, far beyond average views/photo! You can read about some of this in this recent post.

[AdamGT]

Wow 120million views is very impressive @PIB1 . You should join the Top 100 leaderboards! It’s easy to do, just hit this link. Let me know if you have and questions. I’m here to help.

Regarding your questions about benefits of being a Local Guide, I advise that from time to time rewards or perks are offered to Local Guides as a thank you for contributing great content on Google Maps. You may receive a perk because you have consistently shared high-quality contributions, reached a certain level, or often review a category related to a specific perk or are in a particular region. To learn more about this then I recommend you read the Question about a Local Guides perk post.

BTW, you should check your email preferences to make sure that you are signed up for Local Guides rewards.

As the main thrust of your comment appears to relate to questions about how to get rewards, I think you should edit your comment and move it to Connect’s How-tos topic so that others with the some question can benefit from them and the answers given.