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Level 5

Removing Google maps infiltrators like Zomato.

Hi everyone,

I have posted over 7,500 photos of local,interstate and international businesses in the last 6 months on Google maps and I have many photos which are what I call headline photos which as you all know are the first impression one gets when searching on Google maps for a business location or review.Quite often when posting these new photos I look at what other photos already exist and too often I am running into photos from the Indian review site Zomato.And many times they have been selected as the so called headline photo on Google and of course they are re-directing Google map users to their review site with their imprinted Zomato logo.I find this occurrence extremely irritating given all the time and hard work it takes to shoot my photos and then post them on Google maps only to see Zomato imprinted photos somehow get preference over all the posted photos...not just mine.I have contacted Zomato directly a few times and they denied posting the photos on Google themselves though they did admit to having street photo crews out there snapping away for them...I'm sure on some commission basis arrangement.Zomato employees told me that something called the Google crawler picks up photos randomly on the internet but why then would these photos have the Zomato web site imprinted already in the photo unless there was a deliberate plan by Zomato to take advantage of Google maps high visibility and mislead users into visiting the Zomato review site for the business.I have sent numerous complaints to Google via feedback from my phone after many many times reporting these Zomato photos as spam only to see them still there weeks and sometimes months later.Some business review posts on Google might have only 30 legitimate photos posted by Google users and yet I have found and reported as spam as many as 10 photos imprinted with the Zomato web site among that small sampling.I am the same as any serious Google Guide.....I want to see my good photos as the headline Google maps photo and get millions of views....I don't want Zomato to sneakily grow their review business at my expense...before we know it we will have another horrendous review site like Yelp to deal with.So everybody out there...please when you review a restaurant,cafe or eatery of any kind have a look on your phone at the photos already posted particularly the Google maps headline photo and if they are imprinted with the Zomato web site then report them all as spam to Google maps to get them removed.Maybe someone from Google can also explain to me why all of these hundreds of photos I have reported as spam...which we all know are spam...have not been promptly and permanently removed by Google.It's a long way to the top if you want to Google!

 

Cheers,

Zed Star.

 

 

 

Solana Beach, CA, United States
13 comments
Former Google Contributor

Re: Removing Google maps infiltrators like Zomato.

Hi @Zeds, do you have some examples of it, i.e. screenshots? That'll be helpful, thanks! 🙂

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Level 9
Level 9

Re: Removing Google maps infiltrators like Zomato.


@Zeds wrote:

I have sent numerous complaints to Google via feedback from my phone after many many times reporting these Zomato photos as spam only to see them still there weeks and sometimes months later.

When you report them as spam what reason are you choosing from the options? I don't think Google will regard them as spam and that's why they're not getting removed. You're probably wasting your time and possibly (I'm guessing here) even affecting your trust rating by calling something spam when Google actually wants it there.

 

Here's an example Zomato image https://goo.gl/maps/HpzXVFiDLLL2 and one from you for the same restaurant https://goo.gl/maps/VcZYwiqxq8Q2

 

These sort of third party photos appear on millions of POI listings, not just from Zomato by many other companies. Zomato etc aren't placing them there themselves, Google scrapes the internet and does word matching to associate photos with its map listings. Normally this works OK, but there are many examples where a completely inappropriate image is added to a listing just because the word matching is similar. 

 

I've often wondered with this photo scraping whether Google takes pictures from any site it likes, or just ones it has a relationship with so they can then charge for the clickthru?

 

 

Level 5

Re: Removing Google maps infiltrators like Zomato.

Hi JelsynL,

Thank you for your response.I took a couple of minutes to take these screen shots  of review sites I have posted  on a lot but if I took the time I could find hundreds in my home turf.

 

Cheers,

Zed star.

 

 

Mymy Cafe - San Francisco - headline photo.Mymy Cafe - San Francisco - headline photo.Pappalecco - State St,San Diego.Pappalecco - State St,San Diego.Pappalecco - State St,San Diego - headline photo.Pappalecco - State St,San Diego - headline photo.

Level 5

Re: Removing Google maps infiltrators like Zomato.

Hi PhilipF,

Thanks for taking the time to check out the Zomato issue.I have only been a Google Guide for a few months but I have discovered I am exceedingly good at it.I am very very competitive by nature so I don't like to see my good photos supplanted by poor photos from a rival review business whether it be Zomato,Yelp or the man on the moon.Being new to Google maps and not knowing all the ropes I generally report the alien photos as spam on my iPhone Google maps app or wrong place as in the case of the headline photo of the Pappalecco cafe in State St,San Diego.It's a photo of somewhere in Italy I believe.On my iMac there are more options to select from when reporting so if I don't choose spam then I quite often choose the bottom option....This photo contains advertising etc etc.In many cases I have reported the offending photos dozens of times and have had stacks removed almost straight away and others eventually.But strangely some remain despite my intensive efforts such as the headline photo for Mymy cafe in San Francisco.This site is very popular with Zomato for alien photos.I have many photos posted on Mymy because my wife and I dined there every morning for a week back in April last year when we visited San Francisco on a business related trip.My posted photos were exceptional and took a different perspective to what had usually been posted on their review site previously.To my intense dismay a Zomato photo replaced my headline photo of Mymy a few months after it had been viewed over 100,000 times.It took me weeks of reporting and harassing Zomato staff for the offending photo to be removed.I don't post photos on Google maps to come 2nd or 3rd to anyone let alone a rival review business which does not interest me in the slightest.I'm sure most other competitive Google Guides would be irritated by someone like Zomato or Yelp having their photos featured as the main photo when there is no accompanying review,no hard work or special endeavors to do something positive for the business in question.....just to take the user off Google maps and onto a poor excuse for a review site.Zomato are obviously not stupid and are posting millions of Zomato.com imprinted photos in La La Land knowing that the Google scraper as you call it is going to probably pick up and post stacks of these alien photos on Google maps.I look for them everyday on the business sites I regularly review.As for my trust factor...I had a suspicion early on after I started doing edits that there must have been some sort of creditability rating factor assigned to each Google Guide.Useful info like this isn't put out there by Google to make life easier as it took me ages of digging to even know about reward points for answers,edits and added places let alone that a minimum of 3 photos was required to get one point.I don't really think my trust rating has been affected very much by my persistent spam clicking because most of my edits are approved immediately these days and I have dome hundreds of them.I think there needs to be an improved filtering system so as to detect alien photos from places like Zomato and Yelp and prevent them for appearing at all on any Google maps review sites.My observation is that Zomato are by far the worst offender and I believe that is because they are doing most of their business from India by remote after buying and then shutting down Seattle based Urbanspoon in 2015.Zomato are planning to increase their review site footprint in the USA by stealth......deceptively using Google maps to redirect unsuspecting Google users to their very poor business review sites...mostly for restaurants, cafes etc only.It's almost like they are using Google maps as a host to spread a disease.It irritates me enough to consider quitting being a Google Guide altogether which would be a shame for us both.I greatly appreciate your effort to give me the answer to my problem but I think you have actually made me more concerned with the Zomato situation when you imply that Zomato are paying Google to get on Google maps.I long suspected that there might have been some undisclosed business relationship between Google maps and Zomato....and maybe a few other sites...but primarily Zomato.I evened considered that Google might have bought a controlling interest in Zomato...after all Google bought Zagat a few years back so nothing would surprise me.I think this Zomato matter needs to be investigated more vigorously and sorted out for the good of all Google Guides and Google maps users.

Takin' Care of Google.

 

Cheers,

Zed star.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                    

Level 9
Level 9

Re: Removing Google maps infiltrators like Zomato.


@Zeds wrote:

a minimum of 3 photos was required to get one point.

Only one photo is required to get a point. If you add more photos to the same place you won't get more points

 


Level 5

Re: Removing Google maps infiltrators like Zomato.

Of course you are right about the one point a photo.I forgot to check.Most level 5 reviewers who have lots of points and photo views post a minimum of 3 photos.I have seldom noticed getting 2 points when I have posted a new review and added only one photo.I have also noticed that when I have added a new place, posted an initial review and added a few photos that I have received 5 points.It says in Points,levels and badging that one can score up to 5 points per place.I would like to see an example of that.I also have noticed that when I do edits and they have been approved ....particularly for business name changes that they can take ages to be changed on Google maps.........I just did a whole bunch of CVS  to CVS pharmacy name changes which have been approved days ago..much more than the up to 24 hours stated and it still shows up as just CVS on Google maps.Thanks for refreshing my memory about the points system...I can't wait to test it out again....The Wind Cries Google.

 

Cheers,

Zed star.

 

 

 

   

Level 5

Re: Removing Google maps infiltrators like Zomato.

Hi JeslynL,

So if I am to continue to report Zomato or anyone else as spam which option should I choose on the screen?Better still which one would you choose?I usually choose the top one or the bottom one.

 

 

Cheers,

Zed star.

 

Mymy Cafe in San Francisco - this is main photo.Mymy Cafe in San Francisco - this is main photo.

 

 

Level 5

Re: Removing Google maps infiltrators like Zomato.

Hi PhilipF,

Just to let you know why I believed I needed to post 3 photos to earn a point.It says so on my Google + page on my computer.Of course going by my Google maps app on my iPhone it says only one point per photo.

Work that one out mate.I know that I certainly have not been getting one point per photo up to a total of 3. 

 

 

Contribute to Google Maps and earn points
Sign up to be a Local Guide and unlock benefits by contributing content to Google Maps. Earn points in five ways:

Review a place
Add photos to a place
Answer questions about a place
Add a missing place
Edit a place's information
You'll earn one point for each type of contribution you make to a place. For example, if you add three photos to a place, you'll earn one point. If you add a review to the same place, you'll earn another point.

 

 

Cheers,

Zed star.

 

Level 9
Level 9

Re: Removing Google maps infiltrators like Zomato.


@Zeds wrote:

For example, if you add three photos to a place, you'll earn one point.  

Yeah, you've got the wrong end of the stick there. The reason it's phrased that way is to indicated that you get a point for adding a photo of a place, however if you add three photos to a place you'll still only get one point, not three points