2022
Dear diary,
Today is day 3. After having a good day yesterday, I'm slowly starting to being a bit more mature about these things and will instead focus on working a solution. Bruce's affirmation that it would be looked into was probably the only thing I needed as some sort of acknowledgement, and so I remain well and positive in the community.
Here are yesterday's edits:
The two in particular that strike me more are the edits of Brides of Beecroft, Sanjha Dhaba and H&R Block. These ones have come through as attempting to also edit the hours as well. I did not edit the hours at all, so I don't know why it's there. And looking at the edit in the mobile app, it's only trying to update the hours to itself, which makes no sense.
Making more and more edits only to become not applied will reduce my perceived genuineness and authenticity as a Local Guide of making the right edits and having them applied, making it seem like I'm spamming the system with bogus edits. Although I said that I wasn't going to make more edits, I can't help it. I have successfully added over 550 places and edited 5200 places over the past few months so I am very much well aware of the algorithms involved when making an edit or adding a place. It's just been these two days it's far more shocking.
Recently many other users have posted on Local Guides connect that almost the majority of their edits are coming through immediately as 'Not Applied', not even with a pending status. So I believe this isn't an isolated issue. I will be linking them below:
Edits not published
Hillsboro Major Address Change and street name change project
Wrong number on a cinema multiplex
Address change
If not even a pending, where does this go? Is the Google team very busy and inundated with requests? Please let us seasonal Local Guides help you. We can state whether or not local places have relevant photos or photos that should be deleted. We can check the name in accordance with our history and involvement through a clearance and trust check. There are edits that take way too long, weeks, to even a few couples of months and we want to help. Just say the word, and place your trust in some of us.
P.S. Previously I have edited the Meadowbank TAFE Library to be exactly where it should be. That was successful back in July when I first started. Now that it moved to the street without a change in address, trying to move it again ends up being not applied. Common sense seems to have been culled, so I am adamant that this is a system glitch.
Dear diary,
It is the fourth day since this issue arose, and sadly it's four days too long. Surprisingly, I've received the most amount of pending edits being reviewed yesterday, as 28 edits were looked at. What do the labels represent? Well thanks for asking:
- A represents the "safe edit". Along with the BP pointing at the crossroads and not the petrol station outline itself, I will continuously make only these edits each day until they finally approve. Once they do, I will further test other ones that have been rejected in the last few days to see whether or not they go through.
- B represents the correct edits that were not applied. Following the guidelines as well as the criteria as comprehensively outlined in this post, these ones should have been approved. If there is any way to even communicate to the reviewers who looked at these manually, please have them familiarise themselves with the process. Coles Supermarkets should just be Coles. The location descriptors should not be there in these cases. I have never heard of Commonwealth Bank being referred to as 'Common Wealth', please do more research and have faith in us.
- C represents a very incorrect location of the Max Brenner Dessert Bar. I have deduced that when these are manually reviewed, they go to their website to see what it shows. Often the website will have a widget which will show the location of the place as it shows on Google Maps, often incorrect. The Max Brenner website shows that it is where it also is pointing at on Google Maps is the corner of a car park and there was actually a complaint about this as I've discussed with the staff on two occasions by referring to the indoor maps on Google, two customers ended up going to the carpark. On the Westpoint Blacktown website, it correctly shows it's location. What do the people who regularly try to change the location have to advise and verify to you that it's where we suggest it to even be?
- D on the other hand represents a place that was created. When I went to North Parramatta that day and tried to add this place, I immediately got a not applied. Didn't receive a email saying that Google would review my addition of this place, just a straight-up not applied. Maybe someone else tried to add this place as well, but I really don't know why this one came through.
- E represents the addition of Pizza Fresh Co finally being added. I was at their grand opening on Thursday 14th September trying to add it, and it literally took a month to finally have it accepted so people can start reviewing it. People wanted to review this place and the lovely service and great taste and because I'm known as an affluent and well-reputed Local Guide by the Westfield management they advised that it's not acceptable it couldn't be added. Of course, discussion regarding the claiming of businesses as such, they don't do.
- The rest of the map markers that were rejected are often within large shopping complexes, and you could have a whole bunch of different addresses. There has to be a way to bulk manage the listings that have the term: "Located in: [LOCATION NAME]", put them all as the same address (even if it is T23/17 Patrick St, Blacktown or as it varies) and solidify their status and location within the centre. Note that many of these centres also use Google Maps to list it's current location... that's incorrect on Google Maps.
Apart from those, it looks like the reviewers are going through their backlog and have halted pending edits momentarily (just a theory). Considering that the team has to go through 50,000,000 (that's 50 million, just like my views!) local guide's worth of contributions, they're starting to catch up as I've experienced yesterday. Although I cannot retract the vulgar language and the languishing that has been published on this post and scattered around Local Guides Connect, I just wanted to affirm the team and the moderators that you're doing a stellar job! You must've had a blast with the Local Guides Summit 2017, and the engineers must've worked so hard to add even more badges for all of us contributors to whimsically wander through and motivate us.
Sorry for the long posts! That's how I roll.
Dear diary,
It's been five days. I feel shattered in a way. Google are lucky I'm not unleashing all my anger and frustrations unfiltered because there hasn't been a day that I haven't been busy and the sky has been filled with clouds lately.
I'm thinking that this has something to do with an overhaul of the way the edits are processed. It looks as if the protocols for changing the map marker are excessively strict now, probably going only to the exact coordinate. Although I managed to mark a place as closed and I moved my own sports medicine centre (as I was at the complex), my theory is that you have to be at the place to change the map marker. That obviously is false because I edited one ten kilometres away. But still coming to the fact that I cannot label a 'Japanese Cuisine' restaurant that isn't claimed by GMB as a Japanese restaurant is outright disgusting.
I'm not expecting an answer right away, but I'm really hoping someone's listening or reading this out there. I hate to be the dependent type of guy but I just want to know that someone's working on something. Unless it's the weekend... then, nada.
