With @AdamGT updated points tables in mind, it got me thinking of what motivates most guides to contribute, the gaining of points ! @tony_b this post was moved and I thank-you for concurring with my thoughts.
I’ve started to look to good practice advice posts to help with this as well as looking at what how others are contributing. I’ve found that some high up in the rankings value quantity more than quality which I accept can be a delicate balance. However, I note some take photos from virtually the same spot so for each listing they upload way too many similar photos and often with people and their faces in them. I believe this to be contrary to the spirit of Google Maps photos. We all could do the same and upload hundreds of photos for each place we visit but that’s got to be overload or too sensitive with people, if I did what they were doing I would have had millions of points by now but I’m careful to select what I’m adding to add value not quantity overload.
I’m already concerned about info overload as with so many Guides uploading photos and detailed commentaries there’s only so much the average user can utilise. So I’m finding myself spending more time reporting fellow guides for breaches of the rules uploading photos that have no relevance or are repetitive or comments that are malicious.
I’m not sure if this is the right forum to make this particular point or is there a forum we can use to discuss issues like overuse of similar photos or of people, one word or commercial comments etc ? It’s not only a question of adding points for the sake of it and to go up the leaderboard but to do it in a responsible way that adds value to Google Maps.
@MortenCopenhagen thanks for your kind words. I believe you’ve hit the nail on the head !! Yes I have no idea if I’m ever successful in removing inappropriate comments or photos etc. Surely we should be rewarded with points like I get for removing a listing that doesn’t exist on the ground ? Thanks for the advice, I’m look forward to seeing the latest in the series.
You make a great point, @MarkAuchincloss , thank you for “pointing” this out. I think ‘Big G’ might even be guilty of this kind of number obsession by harping on how there are 150million Local Guides out there. Do they really need that many if we’re not following the rules? How often is there a purge where LG status is truly removed, rather than just having contributions hidden?
Are you reporting the offending contribution or the profile itself when you come across these? I have only reported spam accounts that I notice as new followers on my profile. Otherwise, I just report images and reviews as I see them, but never know whether any action is taken on the account.
Hi @JustJake thanks for the interesting comments. I’ve corrected my Title as it should have said “Quality and not Quantity” !! Yes that’s so true. I see people repeatedly posting repetitive or commercial comments but nothing seems to happen.
I report on a contribution by contribution basis and leave Google to form their opinion which should be straight forward if it’s flagrant. Yes likewise I hope the reporting is useful and is taken seriously but it would be great to know as it motivates us to keep vigilance. All of this is to make the user experience as good as possible and to remove unnecessary/inappropriate content.
Thanks for tagging me here @MarkAuchincloss I was a bit confused when I commented on your post and later went back and found your post had changed significantly. So I edited mine, as it seems this platform does not allow me to delete it completely.
Yes, we can learn a lot from @AdamGT and the Leaderboards. Now that there are so many types of leaderboards, there’s no reason to do quantity over quality just to get recognition. Each Local Guide can get recognized for completely different reasons in different countries without feeling the need to game the system to compete with the top guns.
For example, I’m from a small country and my numbers are relatively small, and I think I do very little compared to others from big countries, but I’m still top on the country leaderboards and present on all Level 8 boards.
hello @MarkAuchincloss , thanks for your article. I have mentioned a similar problem before. In my country, unfortunately, people can act against the rules to get points. However, we are the user of an application that has millions of users, not just a few people. Some shalewr may be difficult to control. I have a small criticism about your article. Although you have told some truths, I think sharing by name is a hurtful and unkind language. It would be more correct to share your ideas without names.
Hi @tony_b not at all, it was a pleasure. You make another very important point. Like you alot of my contributions are in rural Galicia, a remote part of North West Spain, so when I add photos or contributions often there’s not much traffic or interest so it’s never going to be about getting huge number of visits. However, it is about raising awareness of what the region offers as it has potential and even if there are less people they deserve the same services as bigger places.
Hi @Gezendunyali thanks for your observations, they are most appreciated and it’s a great pleasure to communicate directly with a Guiding Star. Yes you are so right, I sometimes forget that Google Maps is so awe inspiringly powerful in its reach and importance and the numbers involved. I accept your point about not mentioning individuals if I have a rant. All the best to you.
@TerryPG I’m delighted to receive your support. Thanks for detailing eloquently your examples. Yes they all sound familiar and it’s great that you managed to keep on top and monitor the outcomes. Yes if people do look up to you because you’re on a Leaderboard then it’s only fair you are subjected to more scrutiny.
@JustJake I can tell you that reporting is a thankless exercise. I work on the Gmail Help Communities and there’s so much that we report and Google completely ignores. Lots of flagged content gets reinstated. I haven’t expended any energy on reporting here on Maps or Connect, but I expect the same level of inaction on the part of Google in relation to such.
Meanwhile, I think I’ll just try to lead by example with continuous improvement in my contributions.
@TerryPG I really don’t remember how I got caught up in this whole Local Guides Connect and Top100 Leaderboards business., but in defence of some of the offenders, many of us started off quite aimlessly and without purpose. It is only now under the guidance of @AdamGT that I actually stop and consider before posting anything. Still, I agree with you and @MarkAuchincloss that we should do something about the blatantly obvious cases where persons are in violation.
Very well stated @MarkAuchincloss There are a lot of Local Guides that simply post for points. So many profiles where Guides will post 15 -20 (or 40, 50+!) of the same POI, that all are visually similar. You’d think that they could create an AI that removes/rejects photos that pass a certain threshold of similarity, but I don’t foresee that anytime soon. Flagging rarely (if ever) works.
You can see from my profile that I’m in the same frame of mind as you - Quality over quantity. I believe I’m in the Top 15 of Total Photo Views on the current Leaderboard with over 500M views from 520 photos. I always strive for the Featured Photo but if I don’t get it, then I make certain my photos are relevant and getting viewed. If the number of views stops going up, then that photo is dead and not helping anyone - time to get deleted. Sometimes I’ll repost and see if it moves back up to being relevant, but there’s really no point (other than POINTS) for leaving dead photos on Maps.
The best advice I can offer is continue to focus on the quality and relevance of what you share to your profile and the views will continue to roll in. There’s not much we can really do to cleanup others and it can get frustrating if you focus on that. Keep that quality content coming!
@Mikeinthefalls thanks for your most thorough and informative contribution. WOW 500M from only 520 photos you can’t be serious !! That’s a great point about Dead photos. Some establishments get through multi refurbishments during their life and often there may be a jumble of photos which really need tidying up. When I browse some of the most visited sights like Sagrada Familia it gives me a headache trawling through so many photos of variable quality. Very admirable practice as I’m reluctant to cull my own photo and I suspect many are like me. Agreed to concentrate on quality that hopefully will lead the rankings !
@tony_b from what I can see from the historical data on the leaderboards, you got caught up with theTop100 Leaderboards when you posted your star photo of a coastal view of a Caribbean island taken from aboard a pleasure cruiser back in August 2019
I do agree with you that some value quantity over quality. While you can expect this from newcomers, entry level Local Guides that at the early stage don’t understand what guiding is really all about, I myself expect this much less from seasoned Local Guides at higher levels of the program.
As I’ve written before and described in my A Level 10 during a pandemic and with no reviews or photos post, in mid-2020 when we were locked down in the city having the world’s longest COVID pandemic lockdown, I spent many hours going through deleting “bad” photos (e.g. photos accidentally uploaded twice, near duplicates and blurry photos etc). Photos that to say the least I was ashamed of. I ended up dropping 20,000 points which as you know is a Level 8 worth of points! However, the points were irrelevant to me! I know in the end the Google AI would have tracked these bad photos down and deleted them (made them hidden), but I wanted to do this myself.
I totally agree with you that it’s not only a question of adding points for the sake of it and to going up the charts, but to do it in a responsible way that (1) adds value to Google Maps, (2) gives Maps users a much better experience and (3) helps promote the businesses in our communities.
I have to add here, I place a lot of emphasis on the leaderboards being more than just about going up the charts and about rankings of Local Guides. To this end, I have included a number of powerful extensions to help Local Guides better monitor the effectiveness of their contributions and show them how they can improve on the outcomes they achieve from them.
To finish off, let me say that I very much like what @tony_b mentions in his reply that we here should all lead by example with continuous improvement in our own contributions.
@MarkAuchincloss I’m always glad to chime in, if I feel what I have to say might be worth listening to and be of assistance. I’m glad you were appreciative! I haven’t ever really been one to “over-post” and I’ve certainly never focused on points, so my housekeeping is a little simpler. But the fundamentals of how I post can easily be implemented. I’m telling ya, once you set a threshold and start cleaning up those old photos, it can become addicting! I still have photos on my profile that I personally enjoy and those have very few views in comparison. But if the photo was posted to be relevant and informative to the end user and it’s not being viewed, it’s hardly relevant or informative. Those gotta go. Think of it this way - if you post 3 photos that are similar, one will always get more views. But those views that the secondary and tertiary photo get, would go to the primary photo of they weren’t there. That would give the primary photo even more views!
@AdamGT thanks for your observations and I am really glad that I’ve found and connected with like minded people. I couldn’t agree any more ! You are the boss !! I will pull out a couple of things which are important to me. As I’m self employed I like to help fellow businesses in my community especially if they are locally distinct. It gives me a real sense of pride trying to be helpful as you never know where this might lead. And yes I think we are all guilty of adding something which shouldn’t be there. I try to check my contribution after I’ve done it to make sure there are no duplicates etc as I can be so busy making contributions like an express train, that it can be difficult to stop and do culls !!