Many Uploaded Photos Never Appearing on Google Maps

[PaulPavlinovich]

Thanks @VBenedict for the link. What I was trying to work out was is it something to do with a set of actions in quick succession (e.g. edit a place, add photos, review) or is it something to do with a single action (just add photos).

I'm not sure that we ever sorted that out. It doesn't seem like it matters as @Briggs image backlog seems to be clearing and appearing on Maps.

Regards Paul

[Briggs]

@VBenedict,

There are so many photos that just won't attach to Google Maps. They are being rejected right at the point of upload. And even though my efforts of trying to mitigate these unapproved, hidden uploads are strong, I can't sift through thousands of photos to try and find the ones that only have 4 views against the two other photos of the same POI that have more than thousands.

@PaulPavlinovich,

I've highlighted my entire process with Bruce in this post. Photos if required will go through a quick edit, and if it fails at the first two uploads, each subsequent upload is edited further to try and please the acceptance algorithm. For the most part, I only do the singular action of uploading photos to a review. For most of the time, I could upload photos to over 100 different listings and only experience enough of at least 4 of them to review in its entirety.

It still matters because I have to constantly find photos that consistently never upload to the listing. Here are a selection of 6 different examples where the photo failed to attach to the listing within three attempts to upload over the past 2 weeks. But I just end up deleting them anyway because my efforts shouldn't be wasted on trying to represent a listing when Google Maps' AI decides not to include them.

Caption: Photos that Google Maps refuses to include in it's listings.To make things easier, imagine if you were managing these listings. Can you imagine the photo effectively representing your listing? But I've found out just to stop fighting the AI or complaining about my photos not being accepted/approved and just surrendering. They're only a few photos after all anyway, so they mean nothing.

[Briggs]

Let me reiterate. The backlog isn't magically letting these hidden photos reappearing. I have to delete them myself. So they're never reaching the light of day.

I will get to the bottom of this.

[PaulPavlinovich]

Ah I misunderstood @Briggs I thought that the backlog was getting processed in the background by itself. I didn't realise you had to delete them and upload them again. Scrolling through my contributions I see the occasional photo with less than 10 views and most with 100's or 1000's. I don't see any with zero. The ones with low numbers alongside the ones with high numbers at the same place do suggest that they are not being seen unless the person clicks into the place. I found one with low views (< 10) and had a look at the place in incognito mode and found that the low number photos do not appear either on the place or when checking my review which is where I uploaded it. This is quite interesting.

Can you PM me an example place where you've got low number images and I will look to see if I can see them by going to the place and looking through all of the images?

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@Briggs wrote:

Let me reiterate. The backlog isn't magically letting these hidden photos reappearing. I have to delete them myself. So they're never reaching the light of day.

I will get to the bottom of this.

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[Briggs]

@PaulPavlinovich, now you are understanding where I'm getting at.

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I found one with low views (< 10) and had a look at the place in incognito mode and found that the low number photos do not appear either on the place or when checking my review which is where I uploaded it. This is quite interesting.

You have highlighted the exact situation in this phrase. Have you thought to yourself and wondered, "Should this photo be in the listing? This photo should be in the listing." Two more photos (as well as the majority of photos at the start of this post, including Wheel & Barrow and 7-Eleven Plumpton) listed below are two instances where the photo with the low views (< 10) do not appear in incognito mode. To further highlight:

Cotton On Body does not show this photo at all. It only has a streetview image.

Bangkok Stories shows two of my uploaded photos with thousands of views, but the beautiful shopfront photo with a measly 4 views is hidden from public view. 

 Paul, you might have the power to escalate and strive for a solution to this issue that people don't normally notice, so I'm counting on you!

[PaulPavlinovich]

I have no more power than you @Briggs the Googlers do read and listen to your posts and appreciate the efforts you go to. I've checked a few more of mine and found some that are fairly obviously not visible. It is an interesting thing. I've been trying to spot similarities in the ones that go up and the ones that don't but there doesn't seem to be any theme or reason. Maybe Maps is using the g+ algorithm and only shows you 2% of the available content 🙂

[GianlucaPollastri]

I've stumbled upon these posts and many of my photos suffer from the same problems you guys are reporting. They are in my profile, but not at the POI, and don't get any views.

But I've also noticed a related problem: some photos which are at the POI at some point disappear from it. The photo goes through, is on my profile and quickly appears at the POI. Then after typically 1-7 days it disappears completely from the POI. 

I had one case where the photo got over 60,000 views in 5 days, as it was the number 1 photo for a temple in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Then all of a sudden it stopped getting views. I checked all the (hundreds of) photos for the POI and my photo was gone. It wasn't down the list. It went from number 1 to nowhere. I've many other similar cases.

I haven't been able to completely figure out the pattern, but the problem happens a lot more often when a photo is close to the top of the list for a POI and it's getting many views. One day it's in the top 10 and getting 1000 views a day. The next day it isn't at the POI anymore and gets no views. Photos that are lower down in the list for the POI don't seem to have this problem. But if a photo gets to the top 10 this is much more likely to happen. If it's number 1, especially in a place with hundreds of photos like a landmark, it seems to happen almost always, and very fast.

I've even suspected that other users might be reporting my photos that are ranked high to get them out of the way and get back on top of the list for a POI. Or, more simply, it could be the Google AI that tinkers more often with and imposes stricter filters to the top of the list than the bottom. 

Whichever way, it's frustrating to put effort into uploading contributions and seeing them not appear, or disappear so often. It would be good to understand why this is happening.

All the Best,

Gianluca

[VBenedict]

@GianlucaPollastri  yes that sounds about right.  I have also seen my photos disappear and reappear slightly edited with someone else's name.  

How can google allow all of thi this to occur is beyond me 🤔

In my google profile settings I do not allow downloading of my photos.  So I do not know what is going on there.

Very disconcerting 🤨

[Briggs]

@GianlucaPollastri, yeah that seems just about right too. I'm noticing that even though I haven't made any new recent contributions, many of my photos are steadily being pulled down and removed from Google Maps (not entirely, but rather made unlisted).

This issue is infuriating. The photos do their best to represent the listing in Australia (updated shopfront of the Australia Post in St. Leonards and the Northside Baptist Church) but the Google Maps AI refuses to let them display publicly! You cannot let machines have the final say.

Caption: A shopfront of an Australia Post and a photo of a Church. Both of them were rejected from the Google Maps AI.I know I'm unimportant and worthless, but I just want a fair representation and knowing that I am thanked for my contributions that they would actually allow them to be seen by other people. My hard work and my effort needs to be out there and acknowledged. I can't let this continue on.

[VBenedict]

@Briggs  those are excellent images and very good representation  of the POIs.

Please Do Not say or think that you are unimportant or worthless. No living being is.

You are very important to Maps and to your fellow LGs.

Just bear in mind that Google, Google Accounts, and Maps are undergoing major updates and this could be the reason many of us are having issues.