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Level 5

[FEATURE REQUEST] Suggest New Category

Hello

 

Google Maps has very limited category for places and some local places has their own entitled local category. For example, there is Indonesian Restaurant category but somehow it is not fit to a Kaki Lima or Warung, and there is a lot of places like this across Indonesia and it could be helpful for Google Maps users, especially budget traveler who visit Indonesia

 

Not every country have access to Map Makers so I'm thinking it would be great if selected Local Guides level 5 by their contribution quality (if applicable, if not all level 5) can suggest new category, that may apply to local places. The suggested category could automatically described a place, for example Warung is Relatively Cheap, Cash-Only

LG Jakarta Community Moderator
Palu City, Central Sulawesi, Indonesia
8 comments
Former Google Contributor

Re: [FEATURE REQUEST] Suggest New Category

Thanks for the feedback! There is an existing discussion and explanation from a top contributor at the Google Maps Forum.  

Level 1

Re: [FEATURE REQUEST] Suggest New Category

I noticed this I was very surprised when I cam accross this new addition to ALPHA aka Google.  They are taking over the world one second at a time, 

Level 9

Re: [FEATURE REQUEST] Suggest New Category

@YanniY Thanks for the background information. It explains some of the logic used for creating categories.

Overall, the categories have been really good. It is not common to come across a business that needs something besides what is listed. However, there are some situations that require different categories.

  • Regional business types. The categories appear to have been started in the USA and this means that if a business does something that does not exist in the USA, it is unlikely to be supported. The most common complaint I have heard is when businesses are forced to use American names. For example, "Gas stations" is not used in Australia. Officially, they should be called "Petrol stations". It goes beyond this since there is no way any category system derived from one country can encapsulate every country in the world. It is tempting for developers to force people to use generic categories but this is not always useful for the consumer since it is unclear what the business really does. There must already be a standardized business classification system in the world. It would be clever to try to best match with a more expansive classification system.
  • When adding a new business, it can be a challenge to match the category. The first problem is that the categories are not well known/documented. There is no process of discovery and no way to confirm if a chosen category is a good match. It seems that something useful could be done here. Maybe something like typing in keywords and having Maps reveal categories that match. This would be better than just having word matches. Or, it could be in the form of asking questions about the business to determine best match. Or, maybe just have a well known/documented list with examples of business categories. For a given category, it is important that it is consistently applied. This is tricky, but would benefit both the person that submitted the entry and the person that searched for it.
  • Unexpected places seem to cause categorising problems. Many entries on Google Maps are not businesses. An example of this is mail boxes. It is possible to add an entry for a mail box. Theory is that it makes it easier to find them on the map. Unfortunately, there is no category for that. Instead, it is currently using mailing service. It could be argued that mail boxes should not be on Google Maps but I would argue that anything that is of public use should be included.

The last point to make is that the process of adding new categories should be more public and much more efficient. If the category system is in need of being better explained, then it should be. Most people would not be aware of the logic behind it. Potentially taking years to resolve new categories does not sound like a solution. At the very least, there should be more discussion about what we have and what we need.

 

Regards,

Jeff

Jeff Muir
Admin - Global Guides
Level 8

Re: [FEATURE REQUEST] Suggest New Category

Hi YanniY

 

   I am also dissapointed with the avalilable categories. It is badly in need of upgradnig.

 

Just to mention some of my missing and badly needed categories :

 

Beach (public beach)

Playground

Church

Statue

Park

 

or do I have to acknoledge that the local guide community is only for adding cafes and pubs ?

 

A lot of my contributions (i.e. the public beaches around lake Balaton) are not on the map even though some of my photos shot there have reached 30.000 views in just one week

 

How can I overcome this problem untill we will gwt more categories ?

 

Thanks : Steve

Level 10

Re: [FEATURE REQUEST] Suggest New Category

@GIstvánB,

 

Where are you getting this list from? I have just checked most of them and have not found any that do not work.

MapMaker forum: http://goo.gl/6e5Kv9 :: Maps forum: http://goo.gl/Xy2G79 :: Give Kudos for great content!
Level 8

Re: [FEATURE REQUEST] Suggest New Category

Sorry, I forgot to mention I am from Hungary, so I use the hungarian version where only the following categories exist (re translated to english)

 

Home

Restaurant

Bar

Clothing Shop

Decor (Furniture?) shop

Electronics Shop

Supermarket

Shopping Center

Cinema

Gas Station

School

Food Store

Cafe

Hospital

Doctor

Pharmacy

Museum

Pleasure Ground (Amusement?)

Bank

ATM

Gym

Level 4
Level 4

Re: [FEATURE REQUEST] Suggest New Category

This mapmaker forum top contributor message was a good one to reference. However, it contains information that is now out of date. The 'issue tracker' he mentioned was retired.  And so, in my reading, I am not finding the new recommended way to request a new category. 

 

To share information about my interest, I am looking for a category 'distillery' - for a business that makes vodka and whiskey. They give tours and also sell their product as bottles from a front end area which also has a bar for tastings and also drink sales.  This is very similar to 'brewery' but we know 'brewery' to mean beer. 

 

The available categories are pretty comprehensive, but I expect that people will continue to find ones that would be improvements. Can we have a guide for current practice for how to share or recommend? Or to know for certain that in the future state, google is not looking for this advice? Thanks much.

Level 8

Re: [FEATURE REQUEST] Suggest New Category

who is person in charge for new category request ? or Thread for category request ?

 

thank's
Best Regards

Bekti