4WheelPartsC's post
cancel
Showing results for 
Search instead for 
Did you mean: 
Level 2

How do I get all the points associated with my efforts?

I am the person in charge of the Google My Business listings for the 70+ retail outlets owned by my employer.  There is a master account, which is the Google account under which I am currently writing.  And then for every retail outlet there is a Google My Business profile. There are Google SEE INSIDE tours for each outlet.  When the SEE INSIDE tour goes live I go to the Google My Business listing for that retail outlet and I add the Point Of Interest still photos captured by the SEE INSIDE photographer.

 

When I go to add the photos, I have to switch from the master account (black and yellow 4WheelParts logo) to the Google My Business profile account associated with the particular retail outlet.

Google Main Account.PNG

So the master account does not end up getting credit for having added photos to the Google My Business listing.  How do I make it so that the master account captures the points associated with adding photos to the listing?

19 comments

Accepted Solutions
Level 9
Level 9
Solution

Re: How do I get all the points associated with my efforts?

Local Guides get points (for photos, edits reviews etc) as part of the LG program. Your efforts are as an employee. Organizations, brands and businesses are not eligible for the program, so if you've used the business gmail account to join then you've probably already broken the rules. https://www.google.com/local/guides/rules/

 

 

View solution in original post

Level 9
Level 9
Solution

Re: How do I get all the points associated with my efforts?

Local Guides get points (for photos, edits reviews etc) as part of the LG program. Your efforts are as an employee. Organizations, brands and businesses are not eligible for the program, so if you've used the business gmail account to join then you've probably already broken the rules. https://www.google.com/local/guides/rules/

 

 

Level 10

Re: How do I get all the points associated with my efforts?

@4WheelPartsC

Here is a forum for Local Guides. Your problem is strictly related to Google My Business service.

You should ask on special Google My Business forum where you can find GMB experts:

https://www.en.advertisercommunity.com/t5/Google-My-Business/ct-p/GMB

(You can manage your photos of each business you are managing in Google My Business service and app.

It's the best way.)

 

Regards,

Jacek

Google Diamond Product Expert - Maps, Business Profile, Earth, Gmail, Accounts | Street View Trusted Photographer | Local Guide | retired: Map Maker Help Forum Top Contributor & Poland RER/RL
Level 9
Level 9

Re: How do I get all the points associated with my efforts?

Hi @JacekNK I think you misunderstood the question. They are not having a problem with their GMB account. They are trying to get LG points:

 

"How do I make it so that the master account captures the points associated with adding photos to the listing?"

 

Sending them to the GMB forum is pointless and won't help them, they are not eligible for points 

Connect Moderator

Re: How do I get all the points associated with my efforts?

Hi @4WheelPartsC@Pea is correct. Participation in the Local Guides program is only allowed as an individual. You can't act as a business or brand to participate in the Local Guides program.

Googler

Re: How do I get all the points associated with my efforts?

To weigh in officially here, I will supplement what @iyudhi correctly said and quote the program rules which say, "Organizations, brands and businesses are not eligible for the program. If you offer services for hire (such as marketing yourself as a Street View trusted provider), you are not allowed to bundle such services with your Local Guide membership." 

 

Those who are violating the program rules will be removed from the program.

 

We encourage business owners to visit the Google My Business community.

 

 


Note: Due to the volume of private messages Googlers 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!.
Level 10

Re: How do I get all the points associated with my efforts?

@TraciC

Don't you think that sentence "If you offer services for hire (such as marketing yourself as a Street View trusted provider), you are not allowed to bundle such services with your Local Guide membership." have no sense?

At Street View meeeting 2016 in Amsterdam Google invited Trusted Photographers to join to Local Guides. All SV trusted photographers which are parts of LG Community have special badge granted by Google - Google is bundling SVTP accounts with LG membership but paralelly is writing that bundling is not allowed. I don't understand it... I have a long history of Map improving on my Google account as Map Maker creator, editor and reviewer. Long history as Google Trusted Photographer on the same account. I joined with this account to Local Guide Community at the begining of the program as natural continuation of my Map Maker efforts as RER, RL and even TC. And now Google is writing that I'm not allowed to bundle my Local Guide efforts with my Street View Trusted job. What - in that situation - is a meaning of "bundle"? Do I must to delete all my photospheres from Google, and create separate, new account? What will be with the new photospheres enthusiasts, at the begining Local Guides, after posting 50 spheres to local gudie and clicking "I'm on hire" in Street View app? Will they do delete these spheres and create another account? Don't you think that this sentence need to be precised?

 

Regards,

Jacek

 

Google Diamond Product Expert - Maps, Business Profile, Earth, Gmail, Accounts | Street View Trusted Photographer | Local Guide | retired: Map Maker Help Forum Top Contributor & Poland RER/RL
Googler

Re: How do I get all the points associated with my efforts?

@JacekNK We mean that you shouldn't review businesses where you have a conflict of interest due to your own commercial interests. If you are a Street View Photographer, you shouldn't be selling your Local Guides reviews as a joint service with your images. 


Note: Due to the volume of private messages Googlers 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!.
Level 10

Re: How do I get all the points associated with my efforts?

Hi @4WheelPartsC

 

I agree with the fellow LG's here and I'd suggest you leave the LG program with your current business account. If you are interested, as a private person, you can still join the program and - through your volunteer work and in your free time - you can still contribute to the maps. You are still a Level 2 Local Guide and though it may seem to have a big effort to get here, believe me, you can achieve it easily again with a personal account if you are relly interested.

 

As for the hassle with your different accounts - the Google My Business system allows you, as an "owner", to invite "managers". Except for marking the business as permanently closed, managers can manage every aspect of a local business listing. In you case, it would mean that you should "invite" your master-account-self to every local branch and from then on, you would not need to jump from one account to the other. Please, read the details here: 

https://support.google.com/business/answer/3403100

 

But again - this activity should be separated from your Local Guide activity.

Level 10

Re: How do I get all the points associated with my efforts?

Wow, no actual answers to your question so far, just lectures about breaking the terms and conditions.

 

I don't think there's currently a way to transfer points. The points system is really fledgling, and doesn't really have any features. The only thing you can currently transfer on Google Maps is ownership of photospheres. You can always add personal snapshots of your businesses and write reviews and answer questions. But, as everyone else pointed out, this is risky, because eventually, some moderator is eventually going to link you back to working at your business, and they could take down all those photos and reviews.

 

Something else you can do...but this would take a very long time...is find reasons (that are still inside of GM's Ts&Cs) for transferring points ownership, and submit requests to Google Maps feedback. For example, your brother took a picture of 7-Eleven, and you posted it for him and now he has a Google account, and you want his 100,000 views to appear on his account. Google Maps is a rapidly-evolving part of Google, and they might add this feature at some point in the future. You could lobby Google to get rid of the restriction. I think it's a silly rule, but Google has to do it (or something like it) because of FTC regulations.