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Level 9

Re: local guides - many users are cheating

All systems are subject to abuse.  I have seen it on both Yelp & Google Maps. Neither really deal with it that well.  Yelp is way too

permissive of cursing & immature behavior, while Google has nowhere near the number of people to "police" this system.  People

likely post many millions of pics/reviews at least every few days.  I believe that Goggle relies too heavily on AI to deal with all kinds

of issues.  One of the strangest things is that a local Italian restaurant somehow now has it's name changed to Russian of all languages.

I have & do take thousands of pics & kind of get annoyed that some of my best shots get downgraded by AI & not humans.

 

The few people that one can report that are messing with this system is literally a drop in the bucket.  I flag a few until I realized that

I was wasting my time.  If people want to cheat to get somewhat useless points, that is both their & Goggles problem IMHO.  I already

spend hours, days, weeks, and more doing the hard work of free photography for Goggle, and feel that Goggle should police the 

system themselves....and not get me to do even more work for them.  I do not mind contributing for others use, but I do get annoyed

that seems to take contributors for granted in alot of ways.  I felt I was being a bit "used" with Yelp, so I contribute alot less to

them.  The truth is that most, if not all reviews are rather lame & biased...after you read thousands of them & try to base your

expectations on them you realize that they are super limited....especially when you cannot judge the reviewer...as on Goggle Maps.

 

It is quite amazing how these rich companies somehow motivate us to furnish all this free labor....

anyway, I do hope my contributions do help people regardless of the platform.

Level 7

Re: local guides - many users are cheating

@MariaBi

 

Just a quick question , when the spamming / fake local guides are removed, are their reviews also removed.

 

It's just that the two I reported haven't been active for more than a year though their reviews still can be seen.

Former Google Contributor

Re: local guides - many users are cheating

Hi @GenerolHavoc,

 

The content review sometimes takes time as the team is careful to only remove content that violates our policies (https://goo.gl/G87xzJ). And also please note that we'll never be able to share the specialists' decision as we respect everyone's privacy.

  • If you find a particular review or photo that you think violates our policies, you can use the 'flag/report as inappropriate' icon next to the contribution and send us the feedback.

 

 

Thanks for your help and support!

 

* Due to the volume of private messages please note that I do not reply to them
Level 7

Re: local guides - many users are cheating

Let it out Susan -- scream --yell -- do what ya gotta do.

 

I feel you. There are things in life that elicit the same type of response from me that others might find an overreaction, But to me, they are simply undeniable truth and concepts of justice.

 

I mean it's not like I've written 148 though out,  considered reviews -- posted 329 original photos -- with a million unique views,  checked hundreds of facts -  and spent countless unpaid hours inproving a map that I do for the joy of doing it. 

 

I love it -- all the while  Google mines my personal information to sell me things...

 

I just meant to point out that we can't control what other people do to game the system -- we can only do what we can to lead by example...

 

In the meantime -- scream away! You'll feel better in 20minutess.

 

🙂

Level 5

Re: local guides - many users are cheating

TYVM for your kind, considerate response!  You are very sweet.

 

I do feel better now.  Still slightly resent 'freeloaders' on this 'labour of love' project. 

But they're everywhere in life - not just here & one must learn to tolerate their disabuse with skill & grace, or risk popping a vessel on a daily basis, at least.

Level 8

Re: local guides - many useres are cheating

That's right. The idea of local guide is to help people, to solve any kind of doubts. An ok answer is not helping us.

Level 7

Re: local guides - many useres are cheating

Hi, is a moderator available to message me? I'd like to flag a very suspicious activity guide ..thanks

Former Google Contributor

Re: local guides - many useres are cheating

Hello @Phoenixgld,

I am going to send you a private message with instructions about reporting a Local Guide.

Thank you for your help.

Due to the volume of private messages Google Moderators receive, I do not read or respond to private messages. Please post publicly so others may benefit from your discussion. If you require urgent assistance, please tag a Google Moderator. Thank you!