**"Exploring New Ways to Contribute as a Local Guide
It’s always exciting to discover new ways to help local communities and businesses thrive. Recently, I’ve been focusing on providing more detailed reviews, sharing high-quality photos, and engaging with fellow Local Guides to inspire each other.
One of my favorite parts of being a Local Guide is how we learn from one another and constantly improve our contributions. Whether it’s tips for creating better reviews or sharing unique experiences, there’s always something new to learn.
What’s your most recent contribution or tip for making reviews stand out? Let’s keep the discussion going and keep improving our communities together!"**
Hi @mojtabahazrati
I can’t wait to read your tips for making engaging and relevant reviews.
On the meantime I would like to share with you my tips for photos and reviews:
Make your reviews personal. Be focused on your experience only, avoid descriptions that can be easily found on the web. Don’t use AI-generated reviews. AI is not good at writing reviews, due to overuse of generic descriptions and overly ornate language.
Don’t post very similar photos. Take several shoots and then select only the best one to post it.
Do not create AI generated videos.
These are not only tips to makes your content relevant, but also tips to avoid violations of our policies and eventually to be banned from the program.
Have you noticed that around 10% of your contents were already removed from Google Maps (visible only to you)?
I honestly believe a deep clean’up is needed, to avoid Google to take a stronger action
Hello @ErmesT
Thank you for your feedback. I understand your concern. I wanted to explain that I work as a specialist in real estate contract writing, and my writing style tends to be formal, professional, and highly focused on accuracy. I’m very meticulous about my work, and I don’t publish anything until I’m confident it’s complete and correct. This might be why some of my reviews have seemed dry or similar to formal texts.
You’re right, I should pay more attention to adding a personal touch and focusing on my user experience in my reviews. I’ve already cleaned up the photos section, and I’m currently reviewing and revising my reviews to better meet the community standards
Thank you for confirming, @mojtabahazrati .
However, I am not sure about the meaning of
The amount of violations in there is quite important, from Redundancy (soft) and Duplicates (bad) to Duplicate Across Locations (same photo posted in two or more places) and Stolen (photos taken online). For the last two violations normally there is the Permanent Ban from the program.
There are several photos that are very easy to spot as “stolen”, like the photos of the tour Eiffel, ot the one of the Tomb of Cyrus the Great, or the ones in Persepolis, just to mention a few.
So, again,
Dear @ErmesT
Thank you for your feedback. In Iran, we face certain restrictions, such as limited access to some online resources and occasional issues with internet speed and image uploads, which can sometimes inadvertently cause photos or content to appear as you mentioned. However, I want to assure you that I am doing my best to share original and relevant content while adhering to Google’s policies.
Despite these limitations, I am actively reviewing and cleaning up my content. I am currently removing duplicate images and meticulously checking the sources of my images to ensure they comply with copyright regulations. I am also using reverse image search tools to identify any potentially copied images.
I plan to use more reputable and higher-quality sources for images in the future and will also regularly review and update my content to ensure it aligns even better with Google’s guidelines. I believe these changes will be beneficial.
Thank you again for your guidance
Thank you @mojtabahazrati . I know well the kind of issues you can have in your country. This may indeed be the reason for an image to be duplicated twice in the same place.
But please remember that an image cannot be uploaded in two or more different Listings in Google Maps.
This is a big NO: according to Google Maps policies you can upload only images taken by you. So, even if an online content can be “free to use” it cannot be uploaded in Maps if it’s not your own photo and/or video.
Can you image the result of 100 Local Guides uploading the same “Copyright free” photo in the same location?
Hello @ErmesT
Thank you so much for your guidance and for taking the time to explain these important points to me. Due to my limited English proficiency and reliance on translation, my response may have been misunderstood. What I meant to say is that I carefully select only the photos I have personally taken and upload them to Google Maps.
I truly appreciate you teaching me these important points. It means a lot to me, and I will make sure to be more careful in the future to avoid any misunderstandings.
Best regards
