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Reconsider selection criteria for new places

graffiti-569265_1280.jpg

 

The Goole Maps help section mentions "You can publicly add places, like a business or landmark, to the map", but when you click through to the pages with more details on which types of places exactly can be added, you land on the Google My Business help pages, listing eligible and ineligible businesses. A similar focus on businesses is reflected in the list of categories available to choose from.

My proposal is to move a bit away from this 'businesses-first-focus' and rather consider anything eligible to be added to the map which can be a destination for users of Google maps. Those are not always in search of something they want to buy - there can be lots of other types of destinations. An example would be some types of publicly accessible art forms. Right now there are categories for 'Tourist attraction' and 'Statue' and that's about it. But what about street art like e.g. murals? Those can not really be called a Tourist attraction in the sense you would plan your next trip abroad just to see it, but might very well be a destination for someone exploring a new city. This leads to awkward situations whereby even a very famous one by Keith Haring in Pisa is currently categorized as 'Exhibit'. By the way: if you want to see some really nice ones, check out this post started by HUMVILA.

 

Another domain where examples can easily be found is health-related POIs, such as

  • AEDs, an idea already suggested by AndrewCU (here) davidhyno (here), JMcG (here), RohithaF (here), I_SS_A (here) and Volkert (here) in other posts
  • baby hatch, as suggested by TorM (here)
  • safe injection sites (another suggestion from RohithaF) 

 

Also various water-related destinations seem hard to map right now, as shown in the post by Shahak_B about canal locks, based on his personal experience, the post by Nick-Hobgood on dive sites, which can be meaningful destinations both from the divers' and from an environmental perspective, the post by Elaa about offshore installations and this post by Arni on water ways. And as AJJvBEEK points out in one of the comments below: lighthouses are also not available as category to select. In another comment (page 9 of the comments) JordanBurleson mentions the new trend in water-related amusement: splash pads (or spraygrounds).

 

In the field of waste management and recycling, additional categories could be helpful as well, as e.g. illustrated in the posts about

  • dustbins by Jaidev_Kalla (here), Sanaidhgupta (here), Jhilikmukherjee (here) and ChandraBanu (here)
  • donation boxes by RohithaF (here)
  • recycling station by Clemersondesales (here)

 

And fellow local guides I jxsarlo and DAvagnina point out (here and here) that people practicing outdoor sports will most certainly benefit from having the possibility to add certain types of nature elements. Another nature-related suggestion was made by GEORGECANDERSON in his post on protected trees.

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467 Comments
Anonymous
Not applicable

I was posting this request before on old Map Maker Issue Tracker and on Google Map Maker Forum, but also 18.11.2016 I posted same request here on Connect.

 

Please consider to add new category - Serbian Orthodox Church

This is official website of this church http://www.spc.rs/
 
Serbian Orthodox Church has its churches all over the world, like any other church such as:
- Russian Orthodox Church
- Greek Orthodox Church
and like those and many others, this church should have specific category.
 
*This will help mappers to easily choose a category
*This will help users of Google Maps
 
Serbian (Cyrillic) - Српска православна црква
Serbian (Latin) - Srpska pravoslavna crkva
English - Serbian Orthodox Church
 
Thanks.
Anonymous
Not applicable

Agreed. Whilst I understand that businesses are Google’s main interest because, well beauty spots don’t generate income for Google. But they do enrich the experience. It’s hard to add them though, if they don’t have websites. In the same way you can’t get spam locations deleted if the troll has added a website to their mischief

Level 6

Hi,

Some times we go through places that can not add to the map. Like mountain, forests, paddy fields. In Si Lanka there are more natural places that can not add to map because there is not matching category.Once some one search mountain to hike normally can see famous mountain. But there are more hidden places that not in map. And most places do not have names.Then automatically we can not add it to the map.If there is category to mark and add like non specified it will help according to my view. 

 

Connect Moderator

Hello @NiroshaJ, I have posted a similar videa a while ago, which has already received some votes. Perhaps you would like to vote for it too?

 

https://www.localguidesconnect.com/t5/All-Ideas/Reconsider-selection-criteria-for-new-places/idi-p/1...

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Google Moderator
Status changed to: Voting open

Hello @NiroshaJ,

 

Thank you for sharing. In addition to @JanVanHaver I am going to merge your idea with this post - Reconsider selection criteria for new places

 

 

Due to the volume of private messages Google Moderators receive, I do not read or respond to private messages. Please post publicly so others may benefit from your discussion. If you require urgent assistance, please tag a Google Moderator. Thank you!

Level 8

 

@JanVanHaver I agree that the options are limited.  I raised a similar issue regarding dive sites. Having dive sites listed is interesting in terms of providing information on the site including the best entry to avoid damage to the reef and to the divers.  It also offers an opportunity to keep track of the health of the marine environment in that area through reviews and images.  I posted regarding this issue here:  

Connect Moderator

That is indeed another nice example, @Nick-Hobgood, so I have added a link to that one too.

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Level 8

 

Thanks @JanVanHaver and to emphasize the point  -   😉

 

Level 8

I fully agree that there should be attention for the non-commercial POI's.

I for example tried to add a lighthouse as a missing POI, but that category is not available, leaving no option to add it to Google maps.

Level 8

Oooh, great Idea! (I like using a capital "I" for the word Idea in the context of the Idea Exchange... it sounds/feels very important and lofty)

 

This review (of the Pride Wall in Houston) is a great example of what you're talking about - I tried for weeks to get that added through the app (and one time on desktop). Not that it's impossible - obviously it isn't, since the listing now exists and someone put it there - but I sincerely cared about that place and tried like heck to add it (once it moved from Montrose to The Heights) and could not. 

 

So the system could certainly be improved for non-business locations, no question. I am all in favor.