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Level 7

Why is it so difficult to connect to the people at Google Maps

In a country like Iceland where information on the map is often a matter of security, it is crucial for those who offer the service like Google Maps to have things up to date and correct. It is also important for Google Maps to understand the responsibility as thousands of tourists who dont live in Iceland depend on the information. There are many places and roads that require information that are sometimes quite specific.  The map as presented by Google Maps needs some serious updates and needs to be managed by someone with extensive local knowledge.  Some of us have tried to do our best but sometimes information that is crucial is declined. Often photos are from wrong places and give the wrong information of the place.  Even when the roads are changed Google Map is not updated.  This is extremely important as some of the wrong or sloppy information can easily be life-threatening. Especially in winter. Now this would probably be fine if there was a way to connect to someone with responsibility at Google Maps and make an argument about changes.  But that seems to be impossible even when you have contribute to the project up to level 7 like I have. 
I would very much appreciate if someone would contact me from Google Maps?  

Einar Páll Svavarsson
Iceland
11 comments

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Connect Moderator
Solution

Re: Why is it so difficult to connect to the people at Google Maps


@sputnikjim wrote:

Iceland Magazine, Jan. 9, 2018, "Don't trust Google Maps blindly: Company fails to update maps despite repeated requests"


All they needed to do is sign up to the Google Maps Content Partner program.  Thousands of government agencies have done so; so it's obviously not hard to find.

 

 

@EinarPállS wrote:

It is also the reason why I am asking about the expert level at Google Maps when it comes to evaluating the information.

 

The people reviewing your road edits are professionals that do nothing else.  To rate their expertise level, since they are full time road editors at the premiere map worldwide, they are probably as much as an expert as there can be.

 

Flash - LG Connect Moderator, Maps Platinum Product Expert, Map Maker Platinum Product Expert, RER and Regional Lead

Due to the volume I receive, I do not respond to unsolicited private messages

View solution in original post

Level 10

Re: Why is it so difficult to connect to the people at Google Maps

Hi @EinarPállS if you need to receive support for serious issues on maps (spam, wrong informations on important places, etc) you can always tag here a Google Moderator that will send you further instructions privately.

Connect Moderator

Re: Why is it so difficult to connect to the people at Google Maps

Hello @EinarPállS

The issues you mention are not unique to Iceland, but rather occur worldwide.  The map is not perfect by any means, but it is still better than what people have had available in the past and continues to be a work in progress.

 

It will continue to improve via your contributions to the map.  I realize you are sometimes getting denial, but this again is something everyone experiences.  If Google could trust everyone to always make good edits then there would never be denials, but unfortunately those that purposely or innocently add bad data have resulted in the need for filters.  Sometimes those filters will give a false positive, and sometimes those filters kick in due to you unknowingly violating a rule.  You can read more in this pinned post.

 

In addition to the advice given there, you also have the option of providing all the data including exact GPS location, any existing POI, and exactly what data you were trying to add or edit.  With that mapping experts can look it over and let you know if there are obvious and/or likely issues that you can fix in your next attempt.

Flash - LG Connect Moderator, Maps Platinum Product Expert, Map Maker Platinum Product Expert, RER and Regional Lead

Due to the volume I receive, I do not respond to unsolicited private messages

Level 7

Re: Why is it so difficult to connect to the people at Google Maps

Hi and thank you for the reply
The denial is not a big thing although sometimes it looks strange and difficult to understand.  So my question is really about the level of knowledge and expertise about places and roads in Iceland.  Who is evaluating the contribution from people traveling in Iceland and who is looking at the photos that often are totally irrelevant to the place?  Is it someone who knows the country and can tell between relevant photos and irrelevant photos? I am not undermining anyone but there has to be a level of expertise if you are really going to have this as accurate as possible. For someone like myself who knows Iceland probably better than most people as I have travelled to most places in the country for many years it is often funny to see the decisions made by Google Maps.  I am contributing on my basis of high level of expertise and even giving high resolution and good quality photos to enhance Google Maps for the benefit of the people who choose to use it when travelling to Iceland.  So I expect that the people evaluating my contribution have at least similar or better knowledge that I do.

Einar 

Einar Páll Svavarsson
Level 7

Re: Why is it so difficult to connect to the people at Google Maps

Level 7

Re: Why is it so difficult to connect to the people at Google Maps

This is exactly why I mentioned that wrong information can be life threatening and dangerous. It is also the reason why I am asking about the expert level at Google Maps when it comes to evaluating the information. This is not only a photo game it is also a reality where the RIGHT information is crucial. 

 

Einar Páll Svavarsson
Connect Moderator
Solution

Re: Why is it so difficult to connect to the people at Google Maps


@sputnikjim wrote:

Iceland Magazine, Jan. 9, 2018, "Don't trust Google Maps blindly: Company fails to update maps despite repeated requests"


All they needed to do is sign up to the Google Maps Content Partner program.  Thousands of government agencies have done so; so it's obviously not hard to find.

 

 

@EinarPállS wrote:

It is also the reason why I am asking about the expert level at Google Maps when it comes to evaluating the information.

 

The people reviewing your road edits are professionals that do nothing else.  To rate their expertise level, since they are full time road editors at the premiere map worldwide, they are probably as much as an expert as there can be.

 

Flash - LG Connect Moderator, Maps Platinum Product Expert, Map Maker Platinum Product Expert, RER and Regional Lead

Due to the volume I receive, I do not respond to unsolicited private messages

Level 7

Re: Why is it so difficult to connect to the people at Google Maps

Amazing coincidence of another article again today in an Iceland publication regarding Google Maps:

Icenews, Jan. 10, 2018,
"Google Maps Hard to Reach For Updates Results in Tourists Stuck on Mountain Roads"

 

cc: @TraciC

 

 

Level 7

Re: Why is it so difficult to connect to the people at Google Maps

It is maybe not a coincident because Google Maps is not up to date.  Although I am not going to argue and continue this conversation with those administrating Google Maps, the fact remains that my question was not answered properly about the level of expertise at Google Maps for Iceland. The answer was as broad as possible and at the edge of not answering.  But for people coming from other countries and driving in Iceland in winter it is crucial that things are correct.  Also for people that are traveling to various places that the information and photos are correct. This is often not the case I am sorry to say. 

Einar Páll Svavarsson
Level 8

Re: Why is it so difficult to connect to the people at Google Maps

Hi @EinarPállS

Greetings from the Canary Islands.

I totally understand where you are coming from and salute your perseverance to make it right. Knowing Iceland quiet well, I think you stand a good chance of having a positive impact as you live in a small country with approachable officials.

 

Flash, did give you the key to your problem. Google works with partners and governments bodies (authorities) that are in charge of roads.  But as Google has thousands of authoritative official sources to work with, they are the ones that set-up the system of communication. What Iceland needs to do is use the existing system. The link provided by Flash, allows officials to sign up and gives instructions how to submit data.

 

You asked about the level of expertise of Google Maps of Iceland and you probably find that their level of expertise is as good as their sources. How can Google pull something off like Google Maps, without the input from third parties?

 

For example:
I spoke to a person working for our National Park the other day asking if they could fix things on Maps and work with Google. During that conversation, I learned that Google is partnering with the official cartography "ministery" of Spain. So issues I had with the map should be communicated to them so that they would filter through to Google. No point in telling Google the base map is wrong if the Spanish government's base map is wrong and used as an authoritative source by Google.

 

You could continue your efforts as a single person, or perhaps collaborate with other fellow Local Guides and offer your help to your local officials with logging all the mapping issues in Iceland.  Personally, I would be less worried about wrong photos and focus on roads and navigation first.

 

The recent attention in the local media should help you as more people are aware of the problem and thus more likely to help or listen to people that offer solutions. This is, of course, assuming you wish to put yourself in that role.

 

Personally, I don´t think you get anywhere by criticising the party that has the solution to your problem. There is a win-win scenario here.  With the right attitude focussing on those mutual goals one is more likely to have a fruitful partnership. Something along the lines: "We can help you to create a more accurate map and provide you with our authorized data, so visitors to Iceland are better served", rather than "you are bad, your info is wrong, fix it". Trust me, I have been there, it doesn´t help your cause.

On a different note, the other day you were saying that your web page with info about a certain tourist attraction is way better than the official website at visitreykjavik.is. If you are serious about your intentions to help tourists, should you not try to collaborate with the team that runs that official website, rather than competing with them?

 

Coming back to photos. Again Google can only be as good as its sources. If people post images on the internet and don't use correct meta-tags, how is Google suppose to know what a place really looks like? Perhaps if the official (authoritative) website(s) had an index of photos that are correctly tagged, the photo-bots at work at Google would have a better reference to work with?

Anyway, I hope you are not giving up your goals. Keep up the good work.

JeroenM