Mapping a Newly-Built Shopping Centre.

[Briggs]

Hello LGC,

Mostly to the advanced mappers but I just wanted to ask a few questions.

Greenway Village, a shopping mall that only recently opened on May 18th 2017 is barely on Google Maps. Refer to the screenshots below.Left: Greenway Village in it's current state. Right: Greenway Village in Satellite View.

This afternoon after my mom and I (she maps too!) visited some display homes, we went to this shopping centre; and as the trigger happy photography I am, I took snaps of virtually all the businesses and stores that were open. But barely any of the listings are present at all in Google Maps so I'm very hesitant to upload them as if I try to add a place and the edit comes back as Not Applied, it's pretty much attached to "View Place" and forever in limbo. I made a proposed structural footprint and mapped all the businesses into what would be an ideal and complete listing of the Greenway Village shopping centre, see screenshots for below.

Left: Proposed structural footprint of Greenway Village based on observations and their website. Right: Ideal state of Greenway Village with all its businesses/posting (except indoor map)

Here are my thoughts and questions:

• I want to expand or at least make an accurate enough representation of the shopping centre's structural footprint. Unfortunately if I tried to send feedback to alter the image, the Google Maps team most likely wouldn't be able to effectively make an outline of the shopping centre using their satellite view (which I assume they use... to varying degrees of success). Which poses two sub-questions:
  1. How often is the satellite view updated? In this view I can still see that the Master's store in Marsden Park still has some cars so it was updated prior to closing down, around December 2016.
  2. Should I still send feedback and make suggestions to edit the map?
• There are three places that currently exist there, and one of them isn't the Woolworths Greenway supermarket which is a major tenant in the mall. Along with the twelve other postings, I would like to be able to add them without any sort of resistance or edits advising me that these place creations were not applied, as I would do like in the screenshot. A few questions:
  3. Occasionally I have tried to add a place that newly opened in a mall, and although I add as much information as possible, Maps immediately rejects it as Not Applied. The listing is not a duplicate and all other checks have been made. How do I address this?
  4. All these postings are located in Greenway Village Shopping Mall. How would you write up the addresses? For example, Pearl Nails which is located in Rouse Hill Town Centre has the address of Shop GR27A, Rousehill Shopping Center, Rouse Hill NSW 2155. I don't think having the shopping centre in both the address and the 'located in' is productive and so I omit it.
  Example: If I wanted to list the posting of Choice Pharmacy would I use (personally go for the first one):
  Shop T5, 799 Richmond Rd
  Colebee NSW 2761
  Located in: Greenway Village
  -OR-
  Shop T5, Greenway Village
  Colebee NSW 2761
  Note: Although the website says the address is Corner Alderton Drive and Richmond Road, legally the address is 799 Richmond Road.

I'm really hoping to get some feedback soon about this as I've got about 14 photos to upload and a dazzling Woolworths and a kebab snack pack to review about! Sorry it's so long!

[Briggs]

Op. I actually kind of wrote this because I had a lot of issues trying to update another shopping centre, but my experience for Greenway Village was actually quite nice. Although I could only see three places in maps... in reality:

• There were about three other places that also existed by searching for them directly.
• I created about eight of the other listings, which was great.
• I managed to upload all the relevant applicable photos.
• The Woolworths ACTUALLY does exist, except for the fact that it's incorrectly marked in the paintball range.
• Pretty much updated everything to the best of my ability in accordance with the Greenway Village stores website.

I've pretty much answered question three and four for myself. For a listing to additionally have the "Located In:" section, the owner of the business or the property owner must associate it with the shopping mall place. So the address for a store within a mall should be the shop/kiosk/suite, followed by the numerical address of the mall, not the name of the mall. You wouldn't make your business address "Jessie Street Centre" because that can't actually be directed to, and would help Google Maps give clearer directions.

Hehehe well that's enough rambling from me, just wanted to rant a little hehe!

[Flash · Accepted solution]

Hello,

A lot of what you are trying to do requires more advanced editing tools than currently are contained within Maps.  The tool that did have them is retired, thus some things you'll have to ask Google to do.  Asking does not mean they will be done, but it is the best you can do at this time.  To address your individual questions:

1. How often is the satellite view updated? In this view I can still see that the Master's store in Marsden Park still has some cars so it was updated prior to closing down, around December 2016.

---

That is totally dependent on how often aerial imagery is offered for sale at a reasonable price.  It costs a lot to commision a set of aerials, so it is normally only done for a specific reason.  Once someone commissions the aerials, they often are then for sale unless the commissioner wishes to pay extra to make them exclusive.

December of 2016 is actually pretty recent.  Imagery takes several months to be processed after the flights.  You might be able to find more recent imager in the desktop version of Google Earth; sometimes imagery is not good enough to be the default imagery but is still put in the Historical Imagery option within Earth.

• 2. Should I still send feedback and make suggestions to edit the map?

---

You can, but this is a case of nothing can be guaranteed.

For your average house or small business Google is unlikely to make the updates; most building polygons are instead drawn automatically by bots using the aerials.  For a mall they might modify it, but they might need evidence first.  If you find imagery on Google Earth that can be referenced.

• 3. Occasionally I have tried to add a place that newly opened in a mall, and although I add as much information as possible, Maps immediately rejects it as Not Applied. The listing is not a duplicate and all other checks have been made. How do I address this?

There is no magic answer for this, we would have to look as specific examples including all the data you entered to give advice.  It can be many things, such as the name including inappropriate data (a big hint for a mall is that chain store should all have the same name at every location), the store itself might be half way through through the process of adding/claiming the place via Google My Business, you might be using the postal city rather than the actual location, etc.

• 4. All these postings are located in Greenway Village Shopping Mall. How would you write up the addresses? For example, Pearl Nails which is located in Rouse Hill Town Centre has the address of Shop GR27A, Rousehill Shopping Center, Rouse Hill NSW 2155. I don't think having the shopping centre in both the address and the 'located in' is productive and so I omit it.
  Example: If I wanted to list the posting of Choice Pharmacy would I use (personally go for the first one):
  Shop T5, 799 Richmond Rd
  Colebee NSW 2761
  Located in: Greenway Village
  -OR-
  Shop T5, Greenway Village
  Colebee NSW 2761
  Note: Although the website says the address is Corner Alderton Drive and Richmond Road, legally the address is 799 Richmond Road.

You should not mention Greenway Village; Google will figure that out itself.  It's not entered by the shop owner, but rather from all the inforamtion Google knows about the place.

Descriptive words such as "Shop are not permitted in addresses.  The format that the system understands would be:

T5, 799 Richmond Rd
Colebee NSW 2761

There are issues, however, with Maps accepting properly formatted addresses, so I would not be surprised if you have issues.

[JeffMuir]

@Briggs

It is common to have issues with new shops. There are general bits of advice that might help. 

• Patience - the satellite photos will eventually catch up. Place the markers as best as possible now but make sure to check later to update. Without maps provided by shops, it is a guess anyways. I looked into submitting shop maps but only shopping centre owner has rights to do this. Google is protective of this and for good reason. It would be nice to have a private overlay to help people like us.
• Persistence - if something is turned down, do not give up. The judging system is sometimes flawed.  Waiting and retrying often works. For those places that do not stick, just ignore and wait longer. Eventually it will let you. Have seen this strategy work well. 
• Awareness - keep in mind that some places will be wary of photos. Generally, inside shops is very sensitive. There is a certain aspect of paranoia. It is possible to be escorted out. In general, people fear the worst. Private property means the owner can say no.  Public and outdoors are not restricted. 
• Respect - try not to show the business in a negative way. Also, exclude people from the shots as much as possible. If not, try to make it harder to identify them (crowd shot or at a distance)

You already have direct answers from @Flash. After shooting pictures of so many shops in SE Queensland, it seemed worthwhile to share some experiences. 

Good of luck to you!

Jeff