Floor Maps for Local Guides

[JeffMuir]

Currently, there is a way for shopping centres to provide maps for their shops. It is a process that most centres do not take advantage of. The problem is that even though Local Guides might have access to a map for the shopping centre, there is no way to use it. Without these maps displayed on Google Maps, it is very difficult to get accurate placement of shop markers. The result is a collection of markers that have no basis on real location. 

It would be better to support maps for Local Guides without publishing the floor map. This is possible but has been blocked so far related to worrying about rights to the maps. If just used for private purposes to correctly place the shops, it should not be a problem.

I have never seen an organised shopping centre that did not have a floor map. Sometimes the markers are randomly placed in the building. It should not bother me, but it does.

Take a look at shopping centres in your area and you are likely to conclude the same thing.

[Csaba]

Hi @JeffMuir, 

As you said, the issue has copyright and privacy concerns.

1. The copyright owner is to decide who they share the floor plans with - publicly or even privately.
2. Also if they do not share the plans, how would (or could Google share them? Although "Big Brother" may know quite a lot of us (and the World), they may not have those floor plans available at all.

I think the best way would be to contact the owners of these shopping centres and convince them that it would be their primary interest to share the plans and maybe even allow you to act on their behalf during the mapping process (they would not lose anything).