2022
I've been spending some time recently mapping the malls in my area (Table View) - here are a couple of tips I've collected:
- You're likely to encounter many duplicates, incorrect names, and incorrect locations for markers. I find that marking as closed the non-existing businesses, moving and renaming the existing markers, and then adding new markers is the workflow that is the most effective for me.
- As always, switch on Satellite View in Google Maps while you explore the area, this way you'll be able to place markers much more accurately based on physical markers. Look for entrances, gardens, skylights, and the like to position yourself on the map if your phone's GPS doesn't work well while you're indoors.
- Remember to zoom in and out on the map, oftentimes there may be existing markers you're not seeing because of your zoom level or position.
- Inside malls & shopping centers, I like to place markers on the entrances to the various shops. In general the official guideline is to place them in the middle of a building.
- Remember that you don't just have to mark businesses, you can also mark Public Parking, Male / Female Restrooms, Parking Management Offices, Parking Paypoints, etc!
- It may take more than one session to fully map the businesses in a mall and get the markers positioned correctly in relation to each other. Not just because of the size of the mall, but also because you may have to move many existing markers and then wait 24 hours for the changes to show on Google Maps before you continue.
- For multiple sessions, you don't have to return to the mall multiple times. Rather, go at a time when it's relatively quiet and take photos of the shops as you walk down the corridors (or take a video). You can then review these and add the markers later.
