2022
@lpiazzi50, I had exactly the same experience. In front of the business, with Android. Added photos which, I guess, the app could tell were taken from of the location. I even got the "Thank you for improving Google Maps" message (see below), but then I went to check and the place was "NOT APPLIED".
So, the first question that pops into everyone's mind is; "Based on what criteria is this «NOT APPLIED» when any human with minimal local knowledge can tell this is legit?" Since Google won't publish that information, I would LOVE to see a discussion on that so we can determine, empirically, at least some of the criteria.
In my case, I then decided to Google for the phone number and found that it showed up on some very old business directories under another name (before the business was converted and the name changed). I also found that the address also coincided. So, my hypothesis is that GM is seeing these business directories and thinking "Hang on! Although it is not explicitly published on GM, I know there is another business there. You publication attempt is «NOT APPLIED»". Also, the registered business name is different from its street name -- kind of like "Yum! Brands" would be the registered owner of all KFC restaurants at all locations, on official registries -- so that could also be a contributing factor.
So, doing a little reverse engineering, based on my personal experience and based on information I've read in the forums (or "fora", to be rigorous) my guess is that Google has at its disposal the following information:
1) Human reviewers.
2) Performance of Local Guides (usable to determine a trust level).
3) Location of Local Guide when inserting the place.
4) Information in the Google search engine.
Can anyone add to that list?
My guess is, for these instantly "NOT APPLIED", GM does not use number 1 (or it would not be instant), it does not use number 2 to a large extent (or Level 10 Local Guides would not be seeing their edits outright rejected, as has been extensively reported here), does not use number 3 (or someone from Thailand would not be able to add an ATM in Barcelona) but uses number 4. One hypothesis is that if this business has a heavy "Internet" presence, as determined by Google Search, then it's unlikely it will be rejected outright. If there are other businesses on the web with the same phone number or street address, even if they are wrong, they will introduce enough doubt into Google's algorithms to reject any attempt to register a business with the same phone number / address.
Another possibility is that, for certain business categories (shopping malls?), if it doesn't show up on Google search, it won't be accepted on Google Maps.
What do you think? Does this seem plausible? Can you add any information to this?
Yes @ratanrateria we should get a plausible reply or explanation as to why and that is precisely what my suggestion Reason for NOT APPLIED was sometime ago in the Feedback and Feature Request Forum.
