Top 100 Google Maps Local Guides Videos (June, 2025)

[IzzyOz]

Congratulations @LightRich having your brilliant photo featured. I love it

[LightRich]

Thanks @IzzyOz and @PrasadVR for your comments.
Indeed i´m very proud of that pic because it shows the central courtyard of Mexico´s National Museum of Anthropology located in Mexico City, that is the most prominent museum of my country and it houses the most important archaeological and ethnographic collections in Mexico.
Beside that this courtyard is inspired by the Nunnery Quadrangle at Uxmal, a Mayan archaeological site.
So, as you can see this place is one of the cultural jewels of Mexico.

[02Ercan]

Thank you for Video leaderboards. I am brand new 9. level as a Local guide and finally I reached 9, there is a long way to 10

[tony_b]

Congratulations on reaching Level 9 @02Ercan. You can make the next level, but I’d like to suggest you photograph a wider variety of places, rather than 43 photos and videos of one store.

[IzzyOz]

Oh @LightRich thanks for the extra detail. What a fascinating place! You are very lucky to have been able to visit there. I hope one day I can too, it is definitely a “cultural jewel”

[abermans]

@AdamGT
Thanks for keeping this list.

@Annaelisa @tony_b @PrasadVR @Kumaarsantosh @LightRich

I don’t think people understand how much more dominance of views are currently coming from new videos in maps.

You can find post I put two years ago objecting to Google’move to push videos into the location highlights, because I do believe it creates significant jump in data traffic.

Still, once the direction was set… I decided that there’s no point fighting the tide.

After the view count method change, I actually doubled down on videos.

While typically you only get one or two featured videos per location.. video is always at the second (or first position now).
Considering many locations have only photos, any video put, would be automatically featured.

The other phenomena is videos being pulled into the explore list.
While the videos on those lists keep changing and therefore your video there will constantly be pushed “down”… while being exhibited it gets an enormous amount of views.

I didn’t make an experiment but I suspect that if we would upload the same number of photos and videos, the videos would generate significantly more views than photos.
At least this is the situation with the current views count methodology given by maps.

Shall I try and calculate by when we can open the video billionaire club ?

[TerryPG]

I 1,000% agree @abermans . I have been saying for months Videos are the future and the future is here now. Guides forget a lot of POI’s still don’t have videos posted. Post a video there and watch the views grow.

Anxiously awaiting the Star Videos leaderboard for this month from @AdamGT I am looking to share my Viral video. Please look for it.

[tony_b]

@abermans

I didn’t make an experiment but I suspect that if we would upload the same number of photos and videos, the videos would generate significantly more views than photos.

Hi @abermans, I didn’t do a thorough experiment either, but I have a number of instances where I uploaded both a photo and a video. Previously, the videos stayed at zero longer than the photos, and grew more slowly than the photos in almost every instance. But in recent weeks, I’ve begun to see a reversal of that trend.

• 4 weeks ago photo and video - 146 and 1083
• Over one month old photo and video - 2180 and 3504
• Next one similar date - 306 and 4407
• Again 665 and 2715
• Then there is 206 and 5452

But then some are quite the opposite

• This from 2 months ago - 2912 for photo and ZERO for the video.
• Also 2 months ago - 2501 for photo and 260 for video

My bigger problem of course is that I often still forget to take a video after my photos. Not my default setting yet.

[Annaelisa]

Ich habe von Beginn an, dort wo es mir geeignet schien, auch Videos aufgenommen. Diese Videos wurden aber nicht sonderlich gewürdigt. Das hat sich inzwischen geändert und selbst die älteren Videos werden geschätzt. @abermans
Ich vermisse auch noch die restlichen Übersichten @AdamGT

[PrasadVR]

@abermans

I suspect that if we would upload the same number of photos and videos, the videos would generate significantly more views than photos.
At least this is the situation with the current views count methodology given by maps.

@TerryPG

I have been saying for months Videos are the future and the future is here now

@tony_b

But in recent weeks, I’ve begun to see a reversal of that trend.

@PrasadVR

Since Google is focusing more on video, I think it’s a good idea to keep the video Leaderboards. I hope more Local Guides will participate in video LBs.

Thank you @abermans, @TerryPG and @tony_b , for your thoughts. My views align with yours.

[AdamGT]

@Kumaarsantosh

If participating in LBs, why participants are restricting their profile from public view? One should be open and transparent with the co-participants here and participate as per the guidelines provided here for the LBs:

I agree @Kumaarsantosh. Not being transparent just doesn’t make any sense to me. Why would I want to add photos that no one can see and use to make better decisions about visiting the place? Is it just to earn the points?

@Kumaarsantosh

@AdamGT

Local Guides whose Maps profile is set to private are excluded from the Leaderboards.

Thanks @AdamGT for re-iterating and giving them yet another chance to get the basics corrected.

In actual fact, we have been a little more liberal. Local Guides whose Maps profile is set to private are excluded from the Leaderboards based on views. For example, they might make it onto the points leaderboards.

[AdamGT]

@Annaelisa

It is a tragedy.
I have no understanding why the data is not updated @AdamGT
The effort and time required is short.

Yes a real tragedy @Annaelisa. As you say it’s now just so easy to and requires very little time.

[AdamGT]

@Kumaarsantosh

Absolutely @Annaelisa. Actually we as a participant just have to verify the data and hardly we are required to update barring some exceptions and Star data.

Exactly @Kumaarsantosh. Compare that time to the time that @AdamGT must take to collate all the data, then prepare and post the Leaderboards on Connect, and on top of all that, we mustn’t forget managing the monthly registrations of new participants and the ongoing maintenance and enhancement of the Leaderboard System itself.

@Kumaarsantosh

Top 100 system is becoming easier and easier and more informative over a period of time. I am just loving it.

I’m so happy to hear that Santosh and there’s more in the pipeline

[AdamGT]

@JustJake

Thanks for the Video Boards, @AdamGT. If we keep accumulating new players like this every month, they’ll push out the folks who don’t update!

Yes true @JustJake eventually that’s what will happen as has happened on many of the other boards. It’s just that it’s a lot more interesting to share and compare each month so we can get a better feel on what is really happening.

@JustJake

Still, it’d be nice to have our Maps profile distinguish the types of views in a basic dashboard, rather than having to get into badge data…

Oh those that know me, will know that I’ve been pushing for a better dashboard for years Jake. Things would become much more interesting, the leaderboards much more motivating and much more fun.

[AdamGT]

@tony_b

There’s just Photos and Reviews. Picking video information out of overall photo information didn’t make sense to me. BUT as a non-mobile-oriented person, I still learned how to use the mobile app badges to facilitate this process, and I find it really easy to do when needed each month. So I remain on board as long as it is kept going. At this point, I wouldn’t vote to stop it.

Yes sadly @tony_b all media (and that’s what it should be called) is in one basket. We have to dive in and dissect or as you say are forced to extract the data from different platforms. not to mention the difficult in finding our stars and the hidden contributions. But having said that, the Leaderboard System is filling in some of the gaps and as you say this helps make checking and updating relatively easy to do.

[AdamGT]

@Mohdmohdaljaman

@AdamGT Greetings my friend. I wish you health and success. Thank you for your efforts for your fellow guides. Keep going, we are with you and support you. Everyone is waiting for your work, as it encourages and raises the morale of everyone. Thank you very much. And peace from Jordan

Thank you @Mohdmohdaljaman from Jordan for your continued wishes.

[AdamGT]

@PrasadVR

Since Google is focusing more on video, I think it’s a good idea to keep the video Leaderboards. I hope more Local Guides will participate in video LBs.

I just don’t understand why there’s a slow uptake @PrasadVR, sadly reminiscence of the 360 spheres

[AdamGT]

@LightRich

Thanks @IzzyOz and @PrasadVR for your comments.
Indeed i´m very proud of that pic because it shows the central courtyard of Mexico´s National Museum of Anthropology located in Mexico City, that is the most prominent museum of my country and it houses the most important archaeological and ethnographic collections in Mexico.
Beside that this courtyard is inspired by the Nunnery Quadrangle at Uxmal, a Mayan archaeological site.
So, as you can see this place is one of the cultural jewels of Mexico.

Wow that is so interesting @LightRich, thank you for sharing those details. I can easily imagine that it would be a very popular location.

[AdamGT]

@02Ercan

Thank you for Video leaderboards. I am brand new 9. level as a Local guide and finally I reached 9, there is a long way to 10

Well done @02Ercan. Keep guiding, keep contributing and keep achieving and we’ll see you on the level 10 boards. Also, learn form those here in the community like @tony_b here freely that share their knowledge and experience. You will make greater progress and achieve a lot more by doing so.

[AdamGT]

@abermans

@AdamGT
Thanks for keeping this list.

As in the case of 360 spheres @abermans, I will definitely give video a fair go and, while tempted to, I will not rush into putting it on hold until things pick up. In the interim and what I think would help a lot, and what I would love to see and encourage you guys that are right into it, is to write more quality posts about video. Just have a look at the posts on every Connect category and count what percentage are about video and you will appreciate the point I’m making

@abermans

@Annaelisa @tony_b @PrasadVR @Kumaarsantosh @LightRich

I don’t think people understand how much more dominance of views are currently coming from new videos in maps.

I’m sure you are right and this adds to the point and suggestion I made above. Take this opportunity and educate the community

@abermans

I didn’t make an experiment but I suspect that if we would upload the same number of photos and videos, the videos would generate significantly more views than photos.
At least this is the situation with the current views count methodology given by maps.

Well that in itself would make a great post

@abermans

Shall I try and calculate by when we can open the video billionaire club ?

Oh go on, do it