Trusted photographer - how to get back on the hire list?

It seems I didn’t get the notice in ~2020 that Google will remove me from trusted photographers for hire list. Today I found out I’m not on that list, although I’m actively shooting 360 photos. Where should I get help? I’ve read some articles, but they aren’t much of a help (at least I still don’t have any idea how to contact Google). I’m still a trusted photographer, if I understand it correctly.

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I think it depends on how many people notice your pics, but I could be wrong.

Hello @maskatuoklis welcome to connect :handshake: . I guess you’re not updated about the Google trusted photograph program is on hold now please read this first .

Questions about Street View Read this first

This will help you out .

Thanks

Ok, I’ve read that this program is somewhat on hold and no new photographers are being accepted. But I did become a trusted photographer in 2018… Your link leads to more links and support articles and I’m not sure how this is supposed to be any of use :disappointed:

Hello @maskatuoklis

Sorry for your troubles. If you think your removal from the list is an error, please check in this section with forms for reporting different issues

don’t know if you have ever filled any of them. The removal from the list according to the article @Mukul_Anand sent you is a clean up and 360 photographers who have not been active in the last 18 months were removed from the list.

Note as well that if you are contributing as a local guide it’s okay. Otherwise you can’t use the same account to participate as an organisation or brand of any kind. You should have a separate account for your company/organisation and a separate one for the local guides program.

Reason been that companies,organisations and brands are not eligible for the local guides program.

Cheers

Which option should I choose? The form does not have an option to ask abou reenlistment or anything:

Hello @maskatuoklis

Please it will be helpful if you use the tag tool “@” when replying to a local guide’s post. Just like yours is tagged above. Thank you.

Most probably the first one.

N.B please edit this post to the appropriate category. That can be done by clicking on the three blue dots at the end of your post. The proper category is “How tos”.

Cheers

@SholaIB thank you, I will try the first one, but it kind of doesn’t suggest that I could present my case to google, just update my listed contacts (although I’m not listed). Nevertheless, I will try to do that.

You are welcome @maskatuoklis . That’s perfect now. You did well thank you

That’s all I know about that. I’m just another local guide like you on the forum. Meanwhile for subsequent times,the place to go for SVTP questions is the new Street View trusted Help Center.

SVTP is no longer supported here,but I hope you get this sorted out.

I suppose I should gently remind you again that participation as a local guide and as an organisation should be differentiated here it’s against the rules to combine both.

Cheers

Hi @maskatuoklis

According to your profile, you didn’t uploaded any 360 photo between August 2018 and November 2021, it means that this account was, for the Street View Team, not active for 38 + months.

As you said “I’m actively shooting 360 photos” I suppose that you are uploading them with another profile, or on behalf of an Agency or another subject that is officially uploading the photos. This makes sense, because the only reason to be in the For Hire list is to take 360 photos and to create virtual tour as a business, and this condition excludes automatically the possibility to do this as a Local Guide. In fact, according to the Local Guides Program Terms and Conditions : “Organizations, brands, and businesses are not eligible for the Program. If you offer services for hire (such as marketing yourself as a Street View trusted provider), you are not allowed to bundle such services with your Local Guide membership

What I mean is that:

  • It will be extremely difficult for this account to be reinstated in the For Hire list. If you can demonstrate that you were taking the photos on behalf of an agency, you may have a possibility, but you will have to demonstrate a “continuity” of your submissions
  • If you are submitting 360 photos with another account, while this is fine to respect the Local Guides Program Terms and Conditions, it will be impossible to be added in the for hire list (unless you are already in the list with that account), because " As of July 19, 2021, new enrollments into the Street View trusted program are put on hold. At this time, we do not award the trusted badge to new contributors who’ve reached the minimum number of photos for membership, and do not list new professionals on the for-hire index." (source: Questions about Street View? Read this first

I know, this seems to be a difficult situation, however please be aware that, with the changes in the program, Business leads [are] no longer sent to your inbox . It means that now the “Get Started” button “now sends business owners to the for-hire list on our website instead, allowing them to choose on their own which photographer to contact and get a quote from

@ErmesT

Thank you again I read through your reply and I was wondering about that as well. He said he had been contributing yet he was clean out of the list.

There has been several cases like that on connect of recent, wonder why? Is it necessary for the team to send out a post or word to finalise these issues once and for all? Well I don’t know.

Thanks for all the details.

Cheers

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Good question, @SholaIB

I think that a lot of Professionals SVTP stopped contributing from the beginning of 2020 up to now because of Covid, and all the restrictions related to it.

On the meantime Google Maps decided some deep change to fix a very old issue related to the needs of being a Local Guide to be able to be also an SVTP.

The decision to separate the two program in my opinion has been very hard to take, but absolutely needed, for everything to comply with the Local Guides Program Terms and Conditions

As you may have noticed, Street View is returning back to the origin (Street Level), so everyone who is contributing for adding Blue Lines is receiving more support, while if you are creating Virtual Tours for businesses.

  • You cannot do this with your Local Guides Account
  • You cannot use the Street View App to connect 360 photos (the feature has been removed)
  • The For Hire List is not sending Leeds anymore

So I honestly don’t see a reason for the team to write one more post. The two that we have on the help desk are very clear already

I think there should be a regulation about 360 photos and street view photos because there are people who have received badges before or who use their profiles very little when we look at sending a reliable photo site, for example, I myself have tried to contribute a lot lately, but I can’t get a badge, I can’t be a safe photographer, I think Google on this issue needs a new update @ErmesT @SholaIB

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@Gezendunyali

Well the issue at stake is not the badge for the one involved here,it’s the “For hire list” he had his badge already.

That’s up to Google to do. I had my badge already too but as a local guide not for any professional or occupational thing. I keep contributing as well. I haven’t stopped yet. I have 137 SV photos on my profile. I don’t know where you can propose that idea of yours, certainly not on connect anymore.

Wish you all the best for your contributions and please keep contributing.

Cheers

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yes, that’s what I’m saying. I think making a statement about it removes all the question marks.:smiling_face: :+1:t2: @SholaIB

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