My friends and family sometimes wonder why I love to contribute to Google Maps so much!
I rely on Google Maps heavily, not just for directions, but also for ratings, reviews and pictures of the places that I want to visit. It is incredibly helpful to be able to see a restaurant’s rating, read reviews by people who have actually visited, and even look at some pictures of the place and some of the plates from the menu. This allows me to set my expectations accordingly, or choose a different restaurant if I prefer. This also works for any other business, and even for parks or tourist attractions.
I also like to correct information, particularly addresses or whether a place is closed. There is nothing more frustrating than researching a place, making plans and driving over to it, only to discover that it recently closed or relocated! By sharing these kinds of updates on Google Maps, we can all save ourselves a lot of unnecessary grief.
Finally, I really enjoy sharing photos on Google Maps. As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words! Sometimes, looking at a few pictures that people have taken at a restaurant, hotel or park can be enough to help you decide whether you want to visit that place or skip it. So I make a point of taking pictures of new places I visit, especially when I feel there aren’t yet a lot of similar photos available.
This is why I feel that contributors to Google Maps, and especially Local Guides, make a real difference by helping people to fully enjoy the Google Maps experience with an accurate, updated and rich data set to allow them to make decisions, plans and find easy directions to all the places they want to visit!
So let’s keep contributing and making Google Maps better every day!