Sorry for this long post. I hope this can present my ideas in a more complete way, but it might not answer your concerns point by point.
I want to use Adding a new POI via Maps as an example:
1. After Mapper enter all information available, click Save
2. Maps will do some local checking. If anything not accepted, prompt Mapper to enter again
3. Once Maps accepted everything, Maps will post a new entry in the new POI-maker layer
4. In the POI-maker layer:
a: Changes can be directly published based on Trust Level, no change here. (But I expect how Trust Level will be assigned will be re-evaluated, constantly.)
b. Remain changes then enter the "Voting" process in the POI-maker
- It is NOT to vote on the "Whole POI" in one go, which has too many information. Instead, they will sub-divided into multiple votes that can cross check with each other
- Name + Address -> one vote
- Address + Marker position -> one vote
- Marker position + Name -> one vote
(Hopefully, in Day 1, the Name+Address+Marker position can be "calculated with acceptable precision")
- Day two, publish votes with "Name -> Phone", only Phone can be edited, Yes, No. Name cannot be changed in this vote.
- Similar for website, business hours, category.
c. Only POI with sufficient voting results, it can be "Voted to publish"
d. For changes that should have RL approval, but did not achieve "Voted to publish" within 5 days, it will register an entry in MM, and goes in RL review queue
e. For changes that are not "Voted to publish" that needs Google Reviewer moderation within 7 days, it will register an entry in MM, and goes to GR moderation queue.
Notes:
*. Lots of Mapper do not have access to Mapmaker, thus Maps is the main editor
*. Human approval is best at detecting SPAMs, but it needs great effort to achieve high consistency, and it did not scale well with number of edits
*. Good Automatic Algorithms are better to process huge amount of edits. But it is easily gamed by SPAMMERs
*. However, if Auto-Algorithms can be adjusted time to time to prevent that. Just like Google is doing for Searches.
- First is Who can vote on which data (again, we are not voting on the whole POI edit, just atomic combinations of data fields)
- Based on Mapmaker Levels, Mapmaker Forum Levels, LG levels, type of accepted edits, any combinations of then
- When they can vote. The cannot actively browse the POI and vote. How the will be prompted to vote, as selected by Google's algorithm.
*. More computed fields should be used in Maps, such that:
- Street address is find by associate to a compound ground/building
- Never produce a default Marker position for Mapper to accept. Instead, they must manually touch in the Zoom Level with maximum details.
*. Google can always adjust what should be Auto Published (who can gain enough Trust Level), what should goto Human Reviewer (Google can further divide what edits need to go through Humber Reviewer, or which can be subject to more strict Algorithm reviews)
*. The Votes required to achieve a "Voted to Publish" can be adjusted constantly. Like different weight to Trust Level, location when vote, etc. (As it is not handled in Maps apps, it can be easily adjusted in backend within the POI-maker layer)
*. I expect the Name section will need frequent Human review. But still the Address+Marker information can be used to add "Address markers" to improve base Map.
*. Association of compound features can be used to improve Address details
*. All human reviewers can see voting summary easily. Thus it can provide more reference data for approval.
- Those human decision will feedback to the system, thus further improve the Automatic-Algorithm
Thus, the POI-maker layer will:
- route edits to: Auto Publish, Voting process, register entry in MM for RL approval, register entry in MM for GR moderation
- It breaks down POI info into atomic sets, which voting results can be used meaningfully
- It determines who can Vote, and when can Vote
- It execute based on Criteria of "Voted to publish"
Once edit enters MM, no changes.
(Actually, I want some changes, but I will leave that as it is at the moment.)
(But I would like to see POI edits made via MM, can be feed to POI-maker layer for Voting also.)