It was not the extra 100 GB (used to be 1 TB) cloud space that got me into this program. I was inspired by my ability to change how the world functions; I could actually make a difference and help others. However, certain thing ruin the experience for all of us. This was discussed today with the Googlers.
In today's study with Google Team at Le Meridien, New Delhi, some of the problems were discussed in details with high ranking active guides and Google Team.
Three main problems were discussed:
1- Adding missing places issues ( such as too much time for your edit to be alive and multiple failed edit attempts)
2- Giving credit rights to your pictures (we want to add our watermark but that's not allowed, or at least let Google fuse/tag our Local Guide Name on the photo )
3- Improving the point reward system ( the current system is not fair and is actually very primitive (view point of gamers like me))
There were other issues such as how different companies such as Tripadvisor that enjoy better publicity among businesses and have much better questionnaire like GUI for you to input info in your review.
Moreover, the issue of having an actual paper/plastic badge that says you are a Guide and that could be used when adding info about public places and businesses. The logic behind a badge is that an ID would be a great thing to have, in addition to being a memento from our beloved company, it would facilitate many things. For instance, it would actually show that we are doing this voluntarily for FREE. It will definitely help us and Google, as it acts as free publicity for them. Many people still do not know that you can actually add info to Google Maps and have no idea what a Local Guide is, leads to many misunderstandings!
Thank you for reading and please share with me your thoughts to improve the program 🙂
2022
