Dear Googlers, under the motto 'help us help you' I would like to have a "local guide"-mode for Google Maps that can be switched on if needed. Right now, depending on your zoom level, more of fewer places are shown as point of interest (POI) on the map. Which is fine, because showing all POIs all the time would simply fill the entire screen with pins and names once you zoom out a bit.
But even if you zoom in at the highest level, not all places are shown. I have been told that the algorithm tries to show you only those POIs that you are probably looking for, which are in other words relevant to you as a user of Google maps. Also fine, at least for 'regular' users of Google Maps. Local Guides, however, when they are specifically using Google Maps as Local Guides (trying to add missing POIs or add/correct info for existing POIs), are not 'regular' users. They are not looking for a restaurant, pharmacy or bookstore, they simply want to see ALL the POIs in the area; at that moment, all POIs are relevant to the local guide.
So, what I would like is an option in Google Maps to show all POIs, without any filtering. That would certainly avoid some frustration of the type that a lot of us have already encountered: trying to add a missing place, type in all the data and then, when you click submit, getting a pop up asking "Did you mean this place?"
An additional feature could be that in this mode local guides would by default browse in incognito mode (or at least have an easy way to do so), to avoid them being flooded with tons of retargeting ads as a result of visiting websites belonging to POIs in the course of their LG activities. [Credits to @StephenAbraham for suggesting that in a reply to another post]
Other quite nice additional features would be the idea posted by @AshSmith about adding a special kind of marker for places that are in need of local guide attention, and the idea posted by @KarstenSocher, who suggests to draw special attention to POIs that have no photos or reviews yet.
2022
Search Page
