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Level 8

People posting private photos on Google Maps

I'm starting to see a lot of private photos being posted on Google Maps places.

example 1

example 2

example 3

 

I report them as "This photo is irrelevant to this business" but I think this is a battle we will never win. The process of reporting photos takes too much time, since reCAPTCHA is part of it.

 

Since the number of inexperienced users using the Maps platform will increase, shouldn't be Google doing some analysis on the photos or have some review process like they do when a Place is edited?

6 comments
Connect Moderator

Re: People posting private photos on Google Maps

Hey @ivanrf, you can report them to Google. You won't see the impact immediately, but if they're violating the guidelines for uploading photos, they will be removed eventually. 

 

Check out the solution on the following post on how to do so

 

Efficiently reporting Google Maps photo Spamming

Level 8

Re: People posting private photos on Google Maps

Hey @ivanrf

Since Google Maps app allow people to submit photos to a specific place based on location, I've already seen all kind of nonsense misplaced photos. I always report, but as said, I will keep happening. 

Lucas Kellermann - Indaial SC
Local Guide & Waze Map Editor
Level 8

Re: People posting private photos on Google Maps

@iyudhi yes, as I said in the OP, I report them. However, I don't find the reporting process smart enough for the amount of incorrect photos being loaded.

Level 7

Re: People posting private photos on Google Maps

When uploading photos I try to always make sure of two points: 

1. Does the photo help user locate the business from outside

2. Does the photo give user an idea of ambience/ facilities to set right expectations for the shops/ restaurants 

 

I believe that users who are not active as a Google maps contributor do not pay attention to these points and thus you are right the bars and restaurants have a lot of personal photos - which may just be at that location. 

 

Is it possible that these are picked from Google+ when people mark the location of business in their photos when uploading to Google+ ? 

Level 10

Re: People posting private photos on Google Maps

This events are getting more and more frequent as Google Maps has turned on suggestions to upload photos when near a placepage. Sometimes people simply are not aware of what they are doing.

I think this process should be more formal and provide more informations to users.

Level 7

Re: People posting private photos on Google Maps

You are absolutely right - most people are not aware about how it affects or what are their actions leading to. 

I do think that the top images of a business are smartly filtered out by Google - for even for restaurants with many such personal photos, the top 4-5 photos are generally about the business itself.