Forever Not Applied

[Briggs]

@YK1001,

What do you mean by a true positive? On my account, there are barely any approved edits, mostly sporadic and extremely random. I refuse to just "keep going" with this account if it means it's going to be pushed back. Or do you suggest I should just use the other account? It seems to have approved all my edits I've been trying all this time.

Moderators will probably hate me using another account, but hey, it's no ball if your mom's level 1 account can freely suggest and get approved edits that myself, a (almost) level 10 opted-in local guide have rigourously attempted for the last four weeks.

I have a meet-up happening in the Southern Tablelands this weekend and I will show that I cannot contribute anything even if my life depended on it. This marks the fourth week since my editing ability faded away.

No one has contributed a clear-cut solution. What we can deduce based on my diagnostic testing is:

• These listings don't have an extremely high-rate of trust level that bars us from making such. I moved the Profiterole Patisserie slightly with my mom's account.
• I seamlessly updated the category of Genesis Vietnamese Cuisine with my mom's account as well. After countlessly trying to update it with my own. This could assume the fact that since multiple guides have suggested the edit, the latter suggestion will go through.
• However, I visited a Thai restaurant yesterday with the category only of 'restaurant'. I updated the category from Restaurant to Thai Restaurant easily with my mom's account, without suggesting it from my own. I dared not to update it.
• Repeating the same edit over and over again will not change the outcome, and will all immediately go not applied, as you can refer to one of my earlier posts.

How long must we wait? I'm not a spammer, I'm not stupid, I don't have malintent. All I want is the best for my local community and the region of Sydney, making Google Maps as accurate for all its users. And you moderators aren't doing jack and continue to ignore me and your dedicated users who wish to see a solution, or you're just beating around the bush. You still refuse to acknowledge my 'not applied' database and you don't give me a means to trust my word and myself as a human being.

[Briggs]

Hello @TerenceC,

You're right. Gus' blanket statement about the excuses why edits are not applied does not help in any way, shape or form. What I can deduce from the last four weeks since I have been impacted is that there has been a huge algorithmic shift. In a balance to reduce the increasing trend of bad data and spam that Google Maps receives, changes are made that may adversely impact local guides such as yourself and I, and a whole community of others. Gus also addressed us with another blanket statement about whether the algorithms might need some adjusting, but that doesn't help in the interim.

Sadly it is not in their best interests for us to continue making successful, verifiable edits, and they will only tell us to keep on going so we can get more not applied outcomes. It is an obstacle that an ever-changing, ever-growing community of Google Maps users that we have to face. But Google's priority from what I've deduced is combating spam, and if it is means we are unfortunately no longer able to be trusted, we do not have any due diligence to edit at this moment in time.

[YK1001]

Hi @Briggs,

When we have a "black box" to help us check something, and give us "Positive" or "Negative", it is unavoidable some outputs are true while some are false.

Thus "True Positive", "True Negative" (the Black box is working great!) and "False Positive" and "False Negative" (when the Black box is wrong) . 

I remember when learn about this concept, they will use a diagram like this, the x & y axises willbe parameters to tune the "Black box".

http://searchsecurity.techtarget.com/tip/Evaluating-and-tuning-an-intrusion-detection-system

The aim is always to tune the parameter of the "Black Box", to reach the crossover point of the False Positives and the False Negatives.

In the process of tuning, or even after the tuning, may be some particular groups of people are affected particularly badly.  But to achieve a better overall situation, this is a price worth paying.

Personally, I am affected.  After learning so much from our fellow Local Guides, I am different than when I just started as a Local Guide.

If it happens to me when I have no idea about what is happening, I should have quite already.

Now, I consider myself having enough passion, motivation and understanding to see through all this. 

So for the "True Positive" we have, I mean the occasion that our valid and correct edits are approved correctly.

In Chinese, we have this idiom:

天將降大任於斯人也

必先苦其心志

勞其筋骨

餓其體膚

空乏其身

行拂亂其所為

所以動心忍性

增益其所不能。

[ratanrateria]

You are very very right dear friend. Google Maps authorities must open up and share the modalities of working with we the LG's. Millions of LG's all over the world are working without any remuneration or incentive for upliftment of Google Maps so that it can provide better & accurate services to masses. And we love Google Maps also for this. Although Google Maps are not doing it for free and are earning a massive profit by other means using our services for free but that's not our lookout.

We would continue to send our Edits & feedacks + keep on posting photos & reviews.

But Google Maps Authorities must tell us as to how we have to edit properly and what kind of supporting they want to establish the accuracy & authenticity of Edits posted by LG's. They can also devise & post online tutorials with supporting  training Videos wherein, they can explain to us in details...the process of doing it.

Thanks for your response,

[ratanrateria]

You are very very right dear friend. Google Maps authorities must open up and share the modalities of working with we the LG's. Millions of LG's all over the world are working without any remuneration or incentive for upliftment of Google Maps so that it can provide better & accurate services to masses. And we love Google Maps also for this. Although Google Maps are not doing it for free and are earning a massive profit by other means using our services for free but that's not our lookout.

We would continue to send our Edits & feedacks + keep on posting photos & reviews.

But Google Maps Authorities must tell us as to how we have to edit properly and what kind of supporting they want to establish the accuracy & authenticity of Edits posted by LG's. They can also devise & post online tutorials with supporting  training Videos wherein, they can explain to us in details...the process of doing it.

Thanks for your response,

[Briggs]

Dear diary,

It's been twenty-nine days. Some lovely individuals have been messaging me their support and their demand for action, and they've said that some of them had to wait for upwards of three months before everything went back to normal again during the last algorithm change. By the time the algorithm decides to be shifted or fine-tuned to trust the real local guides, many of them would've already probably drifted off elsewhere.

I've also only just discovered the Google Maps product forums and the Top Contributor program last night. I've realised that all my contributions and leaps to help and assist people here don't really amount to anything, whereas I could just work towards being a rising star or a top contributor for the Google Maps product instead. If I am not active in all aspects of Google's products and reach for specialist advice or assistance, then I do not have a future if I'm only solely involved in Local Guides Connect and to an extent G+. So I'll contribute a bit more specialist knowledge there.

My mom's Google Maps account now has 230 contributions, up from 17 before I made the edits last night. I've been ticking off all my not applied edits so quickly from my database as fulfilled and never have I come across a phenomenon like this when it came to updating the names to remove location descriptors. Unless for some reason, her account is just skipping the hoops and gets everything straight to being published, this is still a massive slap in the face for my main account for not even considering or reviewing my edits in the first place.

I have a question.

This question has been deleted

[YK1001]

Hi @Briggs,

Yes, anything happens here at Connect is not part of Google's TC program.  If you are looking to follow the TV track, you need to plan where to contribute accordingly.

Please be noted that  the Local Guides Program Rules do not allow use of multiple accounts.

[Briggs]

Well, it doesn't really look like we are rewarded for contributing here. After all, Local Guides Connect is more of a social thing anyway. Catch you all later I guess?

Do I care about the rules and guidelines? No, not anymore. But that doesn't mean I need to break rules or subvert possible embargos (that I don't have on Local Guides Connect).

But does Google care about it's own guidelines when it comes to maps listings? No. I didn't think so. Therefore there is no such purpose for a note, and Google currently surrounds in itself a contradiction.

As long as that other account is not under my name and is indeed used by mom and that she does not have that account opted into or signed up to the Local Guides Program, I have deliberately noted its usage otherwise. In no place does the Google Maps/Earth Terms of Service or the APIs Terms explicitly state the prohibition of any use of multiple accounts for its operations.

If you don't want me to use multiple accounts (which I am not doing for Local Guides Connect, but for Google Maps instead), explain how I'm gonna bypass or even possibly meet these insane forsaken algorithm levels of trust requirements to even get the simplest edit through instead of it being thrown in the trash can. That will be my temporary solution whether Google likes it or not. It will never opt into the Local Guides Program.

[OStr]

I think we need a new thread here: "Ask Briggs's Mother to Make an Edit For You".

I love all this talk about "trust level" and "adaptive algorithm heuristics" and all the "billions of reasons" why edits are accepted or rejected, when an account with zero history can put through any edit they wish, including those rejected when coming from long time diligent editors.

Go ahead, moderators, tell us how this is all part of that mysterious Big Plan. Definitely not a bug.

[AGarner]

Hi @TerenceC just for clarification. The auto repair and Taco Bell have two different addresses on Google Maps. The maps photo can be a bit deceiving because they are so close together, but the addresses are different.