Introduction:
When it comes to media contributions on Maps, each day we’re seeing more and more Local Guides contributing awesome videos, sharing their experiences so that others can get a much better appreciation and make better informed decisions about visiting the places they enjoy. This post is about such videos. More specifically, it’s about showcasing the “best” videos taken by Connect Local Guides from all over the world. In the absence of a better metric, we use the number of views that a video has gained as a measure of that video’s “quality” and we refer to the video having the most views as being our star video.
The post includes leaderboards for different Local Guide levels and in this way, whether you are a level 10 or a level 5 Local Guide, if you have contributed video on Maps, you can join in to showcase your star and it’s simple to do. To join the fun, sharing and learning about video contributed to Maps simply hit this link or leave a message on this post and someone will help you get started.
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 video views and the impact that they have on our communities. We have been doing this successfully with photos over many years and 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” on Maps.
Are you new to the Leaderboards?
If you’re new here then you may not be aware that this post forms part of a series of leaderboard posts each covering different aspects of the Maps contributions made by Local Guides. To see an index to these different leaderboard posts and all posts associated with them, simply hit this link
Readme - How to Read the Star Video leaderboards (March, 2025)
Briefly, this is what you need to know about the leaderboards in this post. For more details see the leaderboard documentation and the Leaderboard System’s online context-sensitive help information.
1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. 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.
7. 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.
8. Clicking or selecting any of the featured star video images shown will take you to where you can view the Local Guide’s video.
9. 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.
10. Where shown, ( ) around leaderboard sequence numbers indicate that this Local Guide levelled up/down onto this leaderboard.
11. An asterisk (*) shown after a Connect Username indicates that that Local Guide is a Connect Moderator.
12. Double asterisks (**) shown after a Connect Username indicates that that Local Guide is a Googler.
13. Hovering over a Local Guide’s username will display the integration number that integrates that Local Guide’s details on the Leaderboards System and Connect; the umbilical chord if you will between the two disparate systems.
14. Selecting a Connect Usernames will take you to that Local Guide’s Connect Profile.
15. Local Guides suspended or who have left the Local Guides program as well as those who have hidden their Maps profile are excluded from the Leaderboards.
16. 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.
17. The data for the leaderboards in this post was read at 0435 on Wednesday, April 2, 2025 (UTC).
18. 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 15 above.
Caption: @abermans 's Star Video of Spitalfield Market uploaded onto Google Maps on 2022-01-01 and showing star views of 3109296 as at 2025-03-31
In describing his star video, @abermans tells us that it’s of Spitalfield Market in London, a lovely old market that has been rejuvenated to a popular foods and restaurants and high end boutiques shops. What’s also interesting about this video is that Sam tells us that his “top video keep changing in recent months seems mostly due to “explore” features (e.g. not even shared on the location page). After several months of new videos rising to the top, this older video of Spitalfield Market in London (properly featured) has returned to the top.”
After a lacklustre performance of star photos in March it’s interesting to see the state of play on star videos and we can get a good indication of this in the Top 100 Star Video Average Views/Day leaderboard. Has your star video increased in views this month or is it that you haven’t updated your star views?
Vielen Dank @AdamGT im Gegensatz zu meinem Starfoto habe ich beim Starvideo erfreuliche Aufrufe bekommen
Ich wundere mich nur über die geringe Anzahl an Video Beitragenden.
Like so many others my star video has had no views in the last 10 months. I was still relatively new to being a maps local guide when the “crash” of Feb 2024 occurred and I have to say I have struggled ever since to be enthusiastic about guiding. I still take photos and videos with the intention of uploading them but the reality is I seldom bother now. I am trying to get my mojo back though! My admiration goes out to every one of you that is still motivated enough to continue uploading photos and videos
Yes happy to say my Star video increased 30,000 views last month. I quickly found the number by looking in the Star videos Album and checking the monthly table provided in the top 100
As a matter of fact I believe my recent video views are outperforming my recent photo views. Let me do a wee bit of research on that and I will get back to you.
