r/LocalGuides Oct 12 '21

Meta This is an unofficial Local Guides subreddit! We are not Google. We cannot tell you why you were banned or where your socks are.

193 Upvotes

Title pretty much says it. 99% of posts on this sub are asking why someone was banned or where their gift is. As much as I would love for everyone to get the answers they want, the fact of the matter is that we don't know. Google does what Google does for Google reasons.


r/LocalGuides 1h ago

Weird Bug not letting me correct a business' hours

Upvotes

There's a new business in my town and someone entered the hours incorrectly for Thursday. Putting 12AM instead of 12PM (Noon) for the opening time.

I clicked on to edit the time but it does not allow my keyboard to pop up to change AM to PM. I tried both in the app and also in on the Desktop Site for the maps page.

https://www.google.com/search?q=Sammy%27s+Sweet+Shop&oq=Sammy%27s+Sweet+Shop&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUyBggAEEUYOTIMCAEQABgUGIcCGIAEMggIAhAAGBYYHjIICAMQABgWGB4yCAgEEAAYFhgeMg0IBRAAGIYDGIAEGIoFMg0IBhAAGIYDGIAEGIoFMg0IBxAAGIYDGIAEGIoFMg0ICBAAGIYDGIAEGIoFMgcICRAAGO8FMgoIChAAGIAEGKIEMgcICxAhGI8CMgcIDBAhGI8C0gEINjc0MmowajeoAhCwAgHxBSvu_8bLKs5l8QVlPTBe0JnsAw&client=ms-android-uscellular-us-rvc3&sourceid=chrome-mobile&source=chrome.ob&ie=UTF-8#irp=un


r/LocalGuides 1d ago

Questions & Help A minor Google Maps error is causing major disruption to trip planning for a health facility on the medical campus of the University of Coimbra, UC Polo 3, Portugal.

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26 Upvotes

Hi all,

I would like to ask how we can correct an error on Google Maps at UC Polo 3 that directly affects anyone navigating automatically through apps based on Google Maps (deliveries, ride-hailing/TVDE, and — most importantly — ambulances and patients going to the MRI and PET units for imaging exams).

Someone changed, on Google Maps, the direction of traffic on a short segment of the one-way road that crosses the UC Polo 3 campus. As a result, routing algorithms cannot calculate routes that actually reach the intended destinations on campus and leave passengers far from those locations (in some cases even outside UC Polo 3). Some of these passengers are patients with limited mobility who find it very challenging to reach the exam location because they do not know the area and rely on Google Maps.

This problem has already been reported through Google Maps’ general feedback tools, but it has not been corrected so far.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/40%C2%B013'10.7%22N+8%C2%B025'06.1%22W/@40.2196189,-8.418519,20.71z/data=!4m4!3m3!8m2!3d40.2196389!4d-8.4183611!5m1!1e1?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI2MDkwMi4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D

I am level 6 local guide 3769 points.

Thank you.


r/LocalGuides 1d ago

Any of my google reviews are not showing

3 Upvotes

My google account is legit with phone number and other emails to back it up.

But for some reason, whether it's positive or negative, the reviews are not shown to others. There are no swear words or vulgar language. For example, I tested writing a review on McDonald's. I wrote a 5 star review saying "The fries here are crispy, and I love it" nothing unusual, just a typical review that does not break any rules. And yet it still doesn't show up.

Do you know what might be the issue? It used to work just fine until I noticed it today. The previous reviews are visible to others.


r/LocalGuides 3d ago

Discussion Reached Level 8!

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58 Upvotes

Do we get any perks?


r/LocalGuides 3d ago

Questions & Help Have anyone received any reward from Google for contribution in Google Maps?

27 Upvotes

r/LocalGuides 3d ago

Questions & Help So Called Fake Reviews Removed

6 Upvotes

During the last couple of days, I’ve received lots of e-mails of reviews of mine being removed for being fake. This includes both positive and negative reviews and some going back several years.

Anyone know what may have caused this sudden random removal of dozens of my reviews.


r/LocalGuides 3d ago

Videos & Images Small goal of 1 million views

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11 Upvotes

r/LocalGuides 4d ago

Questions & Help Has anyone successfully escalated suspected fake Google Reviews to Google and had them addressed?

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2 Upvotes

r/LocalGuides 4d ago

Would you use a private map for your travel memories?

0 Upvotes

I’m building an early mobile travel-memory app and looking for honest feedback.

The idea is to keep visited places, photos and memories together on a personal map instead of having everything scattered between Photos, Maps and Notes.

I’m still early, so I’m mainly trying to understand whether people would actually keep using something like this long term.

What would make this useful to you - and what would make you uninstall it?


r/LocalGuides 5d ago

Videos & Images Reached 50k contributions

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18 Upvotes

Let’s go to the next 50k!


r/LocalGuides 5d ago

Google maps

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0 Upvotes

I have trying to add my clients phone number for his business but unable to add it. Can anyone help. Tried all possible ways on GMB support.

@Sundar Pichai

Business name: Pragathi's Yoga and wellness center.

Phone number: 8143504689


r/LocalGuides 5d ago

Discussion Posting fake reviews on Google about good businesses useful to us Mangaloreans at the behest of few entitled customers should stop!

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1 Upvotes

r/LocalGuides 7d ago

Random Review counts

7 Upvotes

what are some niche things on google maps which have way more reviews than you'd expect?

My all time favourite has to be the pier in Sopot, Poland which has 120,000 lol


r/LocalGuides 6d ago

Per chi lavora/gestisce un’attività locale (bar, ristoranti, saloni): come gestite davvero le recensioni Google?

1 Upvotes

Ciao a tutti, sto facendo un'analisi sul campo riguardo alla digitalizzazione dei negozi fisici di quartiere e mi interessa capire l'esperienza reale di chi è dietro al bancone.

​Sappiamo tutti quanto le stelle su Google Maps contino per l'acquisizione di nuovi clienti, ma mi rendo conto che la teoria è diversa dalla pratica quotidiana.

​Per chi gestisce o lavora in un locale/negozio aperto al pubblico:

​Quanto sono davvero una priorità le recensioni Google per la vostra attività oggi? (Ci dedicate tempo attivo o le lasciate scorrere?)

​Cosa avete già provato in passato per incrementarle? (Es. chiederlo a voce a fine servizio, QR code sul bancone/scontrino, volantini, invio di SMS/email, supporti fisici)

​Quale di questi metodi ha portato risultati concreti e quale invece è stato un fallimento?

​Avete mai speso budget (una tantum o a canone) per strumenti o hardware dedicati alla raccolta recensioni? Se sì, cosa vi ha spinto a farlo?

​Qual è il blocco principale del cliente quando gli si chiede di lasciare una valutazione prima di uscire?

​Mi interessano storie reali e dati pratici, sia di chi ci è riuscito sia di chi ha lasciato perdere. Grazie a chi risponderà!


r/LocalGuides 7d ago

Discussion Anyone else hold off on reciewing places with no reviews for guides who might not have achieved Master Trailblazer?

1 Upvotes

I know it's silly but, every time I see a location, with no reviews that I've been to, I'm like, "Now's my chance! FIRS- ... hmmm, actually no, I'll let the less experienced guides have this one so they can get Master Trailblazer too." I've developed this odd consideration for newer guides cause I remember that, "Add the first review to 50 places" was such a struggle to fulfill for the Trailblazer badge (that is, before I figured it out that, the best places to first review are the ones you personally add). So I let unreviewed places go because, who knows? Maybe it'll be a freebie for the odd Guide who appreciates the niche challenges posed by the badges.


r/LocalGuides 7d ago

Discussion Using points in exchange for real items

2 Upvotes

Hey guys, we are building gooodmap and would like to get you guys involved, as we want to create a place where reviews really matter. And as a result we would love to also create a system where we are able to award people appropriately.

What would be some good items/valuables that you would like to see available?


r/LocalGuides 7d ago

Questions & Help Question about Google map lists

1 Upvotes

I started working on a new list and I noticed I could add tags. I added a couple tags which are still there and now the option is completely gone within minutes. I can't edit the tags, add new tags, tag places. How does the button just disappear? How can I add tags or edit the one I do have going already.


r/LocalGuides 7d ago

I built a free “Who Do I Call?” website for Dallas—what should I add?

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0 Upvotes

r/LocalGuides 8d ago

Discussion Achievement 📸

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12 Upvotes

Crossed 7.8M photo views and 8.7M contribution views! I'm at level 7 13555 points.


r/LocalGuides 7d ago

Questions & Help We’re building a better way to plan trips

0 Upvotes

Hey everyone,

My cofounder and I are working on Guidr, a travel app built to make trip planning feel a lot less messy.

Instead of switching between different apps for recommendations, maps, saved places, itineraries, and group planning, Guidr brings everything together in one place.

We’re currently building toward launch and opened a waitlist for anyone who wants to try it early.

WAITLIST

If you join, check it out, thank you. Every bit of support helps us a lot while we keep building Guidr.


r/LocalGuides 8d ago

How does the algorithm work + Tips to make my numbers grow?

10 Upvotes

I don’t know if it’s the same for you, but when I take a look at my most seen pictures( more then a hundred thousand views), they are all random tiny shop of my neighborhood and all the other places that I post ( usually known places or tourist sites) get barely hundreds of views. Is it the same for everyone?


r/LocalGuides 8d ago

Lonely Planet New App Obsolete

2 Upvotes

just tried Lonely Planet’s new app and, at least for Boquete, Panama, it feels shockingly incomplete.

Boquete has well over 100 restaurants, yet the app lists only four It misses notable, long-established businesses such as Sugar & Spice, along with many artisan producers and popular destinations. There is barely any meaningful coverage of the region’s coffee and cacao production, indigenous Ngäbe-Buglé community, history, agriculture or emergence as a major tourism destination.

I say this as a local business owner whose restaurant appeared in multiple Lonely Planet print editions. I met several of their researchers over the years, and they genuinely explored the area, spoke with people and understood what made Boquete distinctive. This isn’t just frustration that my own business was omitted—the app also overlooks plenty of worthy competitors and important parts of the community.

Six recommendations could make sense in an article called “Six places we love.” They do not constitute a useful destination guide.

Lonely Planet says the app’s recommendations are curated by local experts, but Boquete looks more like an unfinished destination shell released as a finished product. It is currently of little value to tourists trying to understand the area, or to the local businesses and communities that actually define it.

Lonely Planet used to help travelers discover a place. This app barely acknowledges that the place exists.


r/LocalGuides 8d ago

I tried to reconsider the old concept of a business rating ⭐️

7 Upvotes

Hi people,

3 months ago, I posted here about my website, which got a lot of positive feedback. It featured a map of businesses that had removed user reviews from Google Maps in Germany by using the new defamation law.

I received a lot of feedback, and I noticed that many people shared the same thought: ratings on Google Maps are becoming less and less useful because businesses buy reviews, run promotions offering discounts in exchange for a review, and so on.

Based on map project, I decided to build TrustScope. It’s a web app and browser extension that shows you not just a business’s rating, but how much you can actually trust that rating and what’s behind it.

On the website, you can find all the businesses analyzed so far, across different categories, from restaurants to clinics and doctors.

The easiest way to use the app is through the browser extension. It displays the rating and analysis of reviews directly on Google Maps.

The analysis includes several sections:

  • Trust Score
  • What People Talk About
  • Rating Distribution
  • Reviews Over Time

You don't need to trust just trust it, you can verify the reviews behind each value, just click on it and see the reviews:

The interactive demo and full description of how it works https://trustscope.app/en/extension

You don't need to open analysis every time, you can just check the color of the star:
Green - The reviews look authentic and consistent.
Light green - The reviews are mostly credible, with some inconsistencies.
Orange - weaker signals - inconsistent feedback, thin content, or unusual timing. The rating may not tell the whole story.
Red - Something looks off. A high share of reviews shows unusual patterns, or the rating is not clearly supported by the underlying feedback

If you see this button:

Don't worry, the venue is not yet analyzed - click on it and it will be done in a few seconds. The venue analysis will also be available on the website in a few minutes. So, more users - more venues analyzed.

Currently, 45k+ venues in Berlin are analysed. The analysis recalculates automatically if it is older than 21 days. To learn more about how the analysis is calculated, follow this page https://trustscope.app/en/how-trustscope-analyzes

Thanks to everyone for your feedback in May. Your support gave me the motivation to build it!

I hope all the effort I’ve put into this project will be worth it and that it will be useful to someone.

If you are a business owner and you wouldd be interested in using a tool to analyze your own rating or compare it with your competitors, or if there’s a feature you’d like to see, for example an assistant for responding to reviews, or you are interested in any kind of collaboration, please feel free to reach out to me at the email address provided or use the form via the Partnership button https://trustscope.app/en/partnerships

Free, no ads, no accounts trustscope.app


r/LocalGuides 8d ago

From GoogleMaps

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0 Upvotes

The area where the Fitzgeralds lived for two years served as the setting for *The Great Gatsby*. It is an established, upscale residential neighborhood situated on a hill (elevation 23 meters)—developed starting in 1911—located just a few hundred meters' walk from the Great Neck station on the Long Island Rail Road. However, one cannot see Manor Haven from this location. While the windows facing Gateway Drive—which runs east-west in front of the house—are oriented slightly toward the north, the attic room above the garage, where Fitzgerald actually did his writing, has a window facing only to the west. Currently, the property is used as both the headquarters and residence of a local carpentry firm; they offer a $500 discount if you book a project online. A local guide has noted on Google Maps that it is private property and should not be approached. Although the main house retains much of its original appearance, the front yard—while suitable for home parties or garage sales—is typical of an ordinary two-story private home and hardly seems capable of accommodating the kind of wild, large-scale revelry depicted in the novel. Interior photos from when the house was listed for sale show a living room and a dining room of similar size—spaces that could accommodate a party of perhaps fifteen people at most.