2022
Adding a place to Google Maps is very satisfying for at least two reasons: 1) you get the feeling of really enriching the map with information that people will soon be using, and 2) it brings a whopping 15 points (which is an indication that the Google team wants to incentivize local guides to add missing places). But is's not easy to find places that have not yet been added to the map. However, although most places are already on the map, not all are. And new shops are being opened in every city and village quite frequently, so it is just a matter of finding them.
The first thing you need to do to find missing places is move away from the 'Check the Facts' and 'Add Missing Information' modes. Although both of those can be very useful to work on the POIs (points of interest) which are already on the map, they are no good to uncover missing places. Instead, simply open the map and explore the neighborhood where you are at that moment. I prefer to do that in satellite mode, but standard mode also works fine. This allows you to easily notice if a POI that you see in front of you is not showing up on the map. But beware: the mere fact that it does not show up, does not mean that it is not listed yet, as not all POIs are shown to all Google Maps users all the time. To be sure it is really missing, you can enter the POI name in the search box. If no results (or no nearby results) show up, you have probably found a missing place... so 15 points are up for grabs!
If the POI you are adding this way is in a shopping area or shopping street, there is a good chance that it was missing because the place has opened relatively recently. Which often implies there was another POI on that same address before this one opened. So, make sure to also check the map for any businesses on that same location/address that are no longer there when you visit the area. Checking the street view images can often be revealing here, as those might still show the old POI. Finding this old POI and marking it as 'Permanently closed' will bring you another 5 points.
Another useful tip in your quest for missing places: pay attention to signs that indicate a POI is new. Some examples:
- extremely crisp & clean looking shops (even well-maintained shops show signs of aging after a while - and if the crisp look turns out to be the result of renovation instead of a new place, make sure to check if there is already a picture with this new look!)
- a parking lot which is still partly fenced off
- areas for plants in the parking lot that have no plants yet or very young trees
- balloons at the entrance
For areas you pass by regularly, you can also plan ahead and start collecting information about places where new shops might be opening soon. You could even make a personal map with those on Google Maps. Some good sources of information for finding those:
- houses in shopping areas that were for sale and are now marked as 'sold'
- announcements in local newspapers
- groups on social media that focus on what is happening in a town or neighborhood
One final piece of advice: if the missing POI that you have just added belongs to a chain, make sure to check out the website for the chain to see where other shops are located. The fact that one of the shops was missing, probably means that the business owners are not very Google-Maps-savvy, so perhaps other shops are also missing (check if the have a 'recent openings' section!) or almost certainly at least some of the other shops will have missing information (typically opening hours and/or telephone number) that you can add with the data from the website.
Other posts in this series:
Best Practice: Fix inconsistencies in chains
Best Practice: Learn to be patient
Best Practice: Find the right category
Best Practice: Reporting duplicates
Best Practice: Industrial Zones
Disclaimer: the practices described here as best practice are my personal interpretation, based on my hands-on experience as local guide, and I don't claim any level of official endorsement.
