Basic Edit Suggestion Rejected

[Briggs]

Hello. I wanted to share with you this experience of assistance across top of the other Maps forums. This spectacle involved a lovely little restaurant called Maprang Thai Restaurant, situated in the small Blue Mountains town of Lawson. First of all, let's see what my edit was.

• The restaurant's category is currently just Restaurant. I want to change it to Thai Restaurant for a niche and more specific category, which is recommended.
• Also, service or product information should not be included unless it was part of the branding. The name as it is shown unofficially should just be Maprang Thai.
• Given the current situation regarding the 'not applied' syndrome the great algorithm shift, I was unfairly rejected immediately (four times in succession), with zero consideration to manually review my edit.
• Also important: the listing has not been claimed.

Given Local Guides Connect isn't helping at this moment in time, I sought for help on the Google Maps product forums. My post: "Can't Change a Category of Basic Knowledge" was given a response by a community specialist, advising that my query should be resubmitted to the Google My Business Community. Uhh okay, whatever, no help.

A day later, I navigate to the Google My Business Community, and posted "Making Simple Edits". Someone remarked that there was some sort of 'secondary category' which was Thai Restaurant, but then riddled on about some third party data or something of the sort. Eventually a top contributor comes along and tells me that because the business is unverified, he suggested me to have the business claim their listing and update it otherwise. The staff there do not want to complicate their processes when I had suggested to them to consider claiming their listing on Google Maps. He then redirected me to the Google Maps product forums (which I initially came from, hint hint) or to Local Guides Connect, which is the "better and appropriate platform".

So now I turn the spotlight on you Local Guides Connect to assist me in this.

Algorithms and speculation about 'trust levels' aside (and I mean aside), why does Google Maps and the moderation process outright reject me when I am making a clearly obvious edit? It is very clear to anyone and everyone that this is a Thai Restaurant as it is embedded in their branding.

In addition another person on the Google My Business Community mentioned something about a Top level category and Second level category. How does one attempt to look at such data or information? I don't see it anywhere.

Furthermore, I don't want anyone to just change the category. I want us to work together and see to it myself personally that this restaurant gets categorised in it's most correct and specific classification. So please, help me make the most succinct of edits to get it through, pretty please?

I await your reply.

[BoyScout]

@Briggs

😍 A big Love Story is born between you & Algorithms 😈 

I already met same problems with several adresses wich were automatically rejected even after many trials.

Now I stopped to fight algorithms : system do not accept my work, I move on to other things !

[LucioV]

Just trying. Five minutes ago I was not able to find Thai Restaurant category....

[LucioV]

Nope, no way. 😞 Need to escalate.

[Flash]

As mentioned in the GMB forum, there are multiple categories available for a feature.  In Maps we can only see and edit the primary category, but additional ones can and normally do exist.

When I search the area for Thai Restaurant, this place along with two others are displayed.  This indicates to me that Thai Restaurant is likely already a category for this feature.  If so, then you cannot change the category to which you do have access to Thai Restaurant, as that would duplicate the category.  Trying to do so results in a denial.

[LucioV]

And what about the name update instantly denied? Could a name contain a secondary hidden category?

[Flash]

Please remember that this is posted by someone that has made it common knowledge that his trust status has been severely lowered.  Any of his edits could be denied for no other reason than that.

[Briggs]

That I can understand. However, the selection of additional categories to represent a listing is actually only possible once the business has been claimed and additional categories are managed through the GMB dashboard. I created my own GMB listing through a personal up-and-coming sole trader fitness venture and so now I'm learning the in's and out's of the GMB dashboard.

Google recommends to be specific when choosing a category. Searching 'Thai Restaurant' is possible very much because it is in the name: Maprang Thai Restaurant. Anywho I posted on the GMB forums to see if they have anything additional to say. In addition, what I'm writing and how they reply to me makes me seem like I'm the bad guy now and they're not very friendly.

Debanjan wrote:

I see your posting on Like cal Guide. I am the Lucky cal Guide. Even Google Maps you posting. Very bad very bad. Stop now!

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If this is the continued toxic hostile behaviour I'm going to get by seeking help about my curiousities and wonderances, I might as well call it quits. Look, I'm very sorry for the tone that I radiate because of the current situation, and I know lashing out or downplaying others isn't going to help. But this is giving me so much frustration and even fueling hatred to the community because of the way people respond to or perceive towards me.

I'm sorry Flash and everyone else. It gets harder every day, and now that people are hounding all on me to no end, I'm really collapsing.

[Flash]

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@Briggs wrote:

That I can understand. However, the selection of additional categories to represent a listing is actually only possible once the business has been claimed and additional categories are managed through the GMB dashboard.

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Not at all.

In this particular case the feature is old enough to have been edited within Map Maker.

There are also a lot of features on the map that were claimed at one time but no longer.

But even for unclaimed newer features you should remember that Google gets its information from many sources.  If 10 sources feed into one POI, the POI then potentially has 10 unique categories even if each source only has one category.  And while Maps edits as sources only provide one category, this is not limit on the other sources.

Just two Maps user created POIs that are merged into one already have created the potential for the POI to have both Restaurant and Thai Restaurant as categories.

[Briggs]

Now I don't understand anything.

I was never a part of Map Maker before it closed earlier this year. You would think that if they would close a whole program down, they would phase out and consolidate any redundant details such as multi-categories or such. It's a proof to show how narrow my thinking currently is.

Although I still can't figure out why Genesis Vietnamese Cuisine failed to change from 'Restaurant' to 'Vietnamese Restaurant', it only managed to successfully update when I suggested with my mom's account. I am still heavily doubting all things.