Each day we’re seeing more and more Local Guides contributing videos on Maps. In these videos they share their experiences at the places they enjoy so that others can get a much better appreciation of these places and make better informed decisions about visiting them. This post is about such videos and more specifically, it’s about showcasing the “best” videos taken by Connect Local Guides. Like photos, videos have a view count and in the absence of a better metric, in this post we use the number of views that a video has as a measure of that video’s quality and we refer to our video having the most views as being our star video.
As you will see, this post includes a set of leaderboards that showcase the star videos of Local Guides from all over the world and whether you are a Level 10 or a Level 2 Local Guide, if you have contributed video on Maps, you can join in to showcase your star, and it’s simple to do. Just hit this link and register or if you need any help with this, then add a comment in this post and someone will jump in to assist you.
So what can you learn from the Star Videos Leaderboards?
By sharing our video contributions and achievements we can learn a lot about how to improve the quality of our videos so that we can achieve even better outcomes in terms of the impact that they have on our communities. We have been doing this successfully with photos over many years and so now we can do the same with videos so join in and let’s see if together we can learn what type of videos work “best”.
If you haven’t as yet shared your star video thenregister nowas we’d all love to see it!
How to Read the Star Video leaderboards (February 2024)
Briefly, this is what you need to know about the leaderboards in this post. For more details see the leaderboard documentation:
The leaderboards in this post present details about the star videos of participating Local Guides from all over the world. If you have contributed videos on Maps then you will have a star video, it’s your video that has the most views and we call this, the star video.
As well as an overall leaderboard, you will see leaderboards for different Local Guide levels which provide you with direct comparisons of your star video’s performance with that of your peers. Finally, there’s a leaderboard ranking the top 100 star videos by average star views per day which gives an indication on how good your star video is. To be included in this leaderboard, you must have updated your star video’s views in the period since the date of the last average star views per day leaderboard as posted here on Connect last month.
The average star views per day is calculated by dividing the star views by the life of the star video expressed in days. The life of the star video is equal to the number of days between when you first uploaded your star video on Maps and the date that you last updated the star views and thus, will be different for each participating Local Guide. Therefore, for accuracy of the information it is important that you enter the correct dates. When it comes to the date that you last updated the star views, point #2 above is very important.
As well as the star views and the date uploaded onto Maps, each listing on the leaderboards shows the Maps Category, and a description (e.g. Storefront, Building or Park) of the respective Local Guide’s star video.
If the Maps Category of a star video is shown as a link and if the name of the relevant Place of Interest was provided by the respective Local Guide, then hovering over that link will show you the name of the place and selecting that link will take you to a screenshot with details of that place as stored on the Local Guides, 2024 Star Videos post, a “star video album” if you will, of star videos.
If the Maps Category of a star video is shown on a colored background then that star video has been selected as one of the best that meets the formatting requirements as specified in the star video album post. Select that star video’s category and see why it has been rated as one of the best and read more about that star video on the “star video album” post.
Selecting any of the Connect Usernames will take you to that Local Guide’s Connect Profile.
Preceding some of the leaderboards, you may see a number of screenshots of featured star videos. If so, these are a selection from those that best meet the requirements as detailed in the “star video album” post.
Clicking or selecting any of the featured star video images shown will take you to where you can view the Local Guide’s video.
Where shown, around leaderboard sequence numbers indicate that this is the first time that the Local Guide has participated on the Top 100 Local Guides leaderboards.
Where shown, ( ) around leaderboard sequence numbers indicate that this Local Guide levelled up/down onto this leaderboard.
An asterisk (*) shown after a Connect Username indicates that that Local Guide is a Connect Moderator.
Double asterisks (**) shown after a Connect Username indicates that that Local Guide is a Googler.
A ? or the words “Not set” in a cell indicates that the respective value cannot be determined or hasn’t been provided by or for the respective Local Guide.
The data for the leaderboards in this post was read at 5:00 AM on 2 March 2024 (UTC).
Local Guides included on the leaderboards must check their entries for any errors. If you should find any errors or omissions, please add the details in a comment on this post. Regarding omissions, please note point 14 above.
For the featured star videothis month we see @PrasadVR 's star video of Annapurna Theatre, located in Kurmannapalem, Visakhapatnam, India. The theatre’s prominence as an entertainment venue is well-known. Throughout its history, the Annapurna Theatre has witnessed significant transformations in the film industry, from the golden era of Indian cinema to the advent of digital technology. Despite facing challenges such as changing viewer preferences and technological advancements, the theater has persisted as a cherished entertainment venue by moviegoers.
I’m seeing some interesting changes in the February 2024 star video leaderboards, brought to you from beautiful Hobart, the capital of Tasmania, the smallest State of Australia. I’m just wondering whether this is due to the recent Google Maps media issues or that a number of participating Local Guides decided not to update February’s data because of these issues.
You’re probably correct that some LGs didn’t update @AdamGT , and this has caused a change in the ranking of those of us who did. Additionally, we’ll see an impact next month on the Delta Views numbers, as having no preceding month to compare to, will nullify this indicator.
Thanks for jumping so quickly @Rednewt74 . While I see you updated your star video details on March 2, the question is, did you in fact update before the data for the leaderboards was read? It looks to me like you didn’t. Alfred, it’s always risky if you don’t update before the end of the month and I suggest the cut-off date should be 28th of the month.
Yes, it’s very much looking that way @tony_b and without doing a deep check, and to be honest I don’t have the time right now, that’s the only thought I have on the sudden and quite significant change in the rankings, especially on the Average Star Views per Day leaderboard. I’ve said before in earlier posted leaderboard posts, I think the delta views (e.g. the Movers & Shakers leaderboards) will most likely show a significant shake!
Thank you for taking the time to look into it. I did not in fact make the cutoff. My star video views shown as 968,809 is the old number. The new number is 968,999. They are so similar that I failed to notice that the Feb board was showing my old number. This is the first time since I started in April 2023 that I did not update my stats in a timely manner. With the ongoing debate about whether the boards would be published, I chose to wait, to my regret.
I didn’t have time earlier to even check your January stats @Rednewt74 but yes that explains things, you just missed the cutoff time and I’m sorry about that. Also, while I understand the point you’re making about the question of whether or not the February Leaderboards would be posted, I always said regardless if they are or if they are not posted, and regardless of the impact that the Google media issues might have had on your data, everyone should update as usual on their own respective 30 day cycle.
Thanks for posting these from the road, @AdamGT . I’ll channel my inner @Stephanie_OWL and list all of the things I know about Tasmania: 1. Tasmanian Devil.
I honestly did not know it was a state of Austrailia. I guess I can add that as 2 on my list now.
Yes there’s the Tasmanian Devil @JustJake but then there’s lots and lots of other exciting things like the great Tasmanian wilderness and the Port Arthur Penal Colony. Here’s a view of Mount Wellington which dominates the capital, Hobart.
Thank you @AdamGT for selecting my video as the featured video for the Top 100 Google Maps Local Guides Star Videos (February, 2024).Your recognition means a lot to me.