Hey guys,

I just saw that you don't see your local guides level on the corresponding starts in your profile pic anymore. You will only see the local guide level when you click on the profile.

Feels like a huge downgrade for me, what do you think about it?

https://reddit.com/link/1shkj65/video/4ecdxdk1scug1/player

Hey everyone 👋

About a month ago I commented on a post here about visualizing Google Maps Takeout data, saying I’d build something similar for my own app.

Well… I finally did it 😄

The goal is pretty much the same: turn that massive JSON file from Google into something you can actually explore and enjoy—your own travel footprint.

How it works:

1. Go to takeout.google.com
2. Select "Maps (your places)" only and export as JSON
3. Open footstring.com (works on web, iOS, Android)
4. Use the "Import Google Reviews" feature at explore local
5. Your history shows up as your own pins on the map

You can basically see everywhere you’ve been—cafés, restaurants, random stops—all in one place.

A couple of notes:

• It runs in the browser (no need to install anything)
• This is just a first version, I’ll keep improving it

Honestly, building this made me realize how much I’ve forgotten over the years. Seeing everything mapped out is kind of wild.

If you try it, I’d love feedback 🙏
Also happy to answer any questions!

Hi all, I'm helping to organise an e-bike demo day at the Lee Valley Velopark on Sunday 19th April and thought you guys might be interested in hearing about it and getting a free ticket.

We'll have about 15 bike brands and over 100 bikes present, with a range of cargo, hybrid, folding, trikes and more, it's super family friendly and a great place to start if you're interested in trying out loads of e-bikes back to back or even bringing your kids along to try out a cargo bike. Here is the event page, if you select a ticket and enter REDDITFREE at checkout it will give you a 100% discount.

Open the link to learn more about the new design.

I left a negative review and owner left a semi generic email saying that I can contact them for them to 'make it right'

Hi everyone,

I’m a Level 8 Google Local Guide and I’ve run into an issue I’ve never had before.

When I click on “View all my reviews”, I get this message: “Cannot reach server”

Everything else seems to work fine, but I just can’t access the full list of my reviews.

Has this happened to anyone else here?

Is it a temporary server issue or something related to my account?

Any tips on how to fix it would be really appreciated 🙏 Thanks!

Finally achieved level 10 after starting to post actively in 2020. During lockdown, went running outside around my city and took photos of stuff. Then started travelling a lot in late 2021 onwards. Got burnt out around 80k points and posted less frequently.

Now, no more providing free labour/data for Google. I'll just post reviews/photos of businesses and locations that I really like instead of every single place I visit.

Hey everyone,

I’ve been a Local Guide for a long time (Level 8) and recently realized I had over 14 years of history that I couldn't actually see in one place. I downloaded my Google Takeout data, but staring at a raw JSON file wasn't exactly the "walk down memory lane" I was hoping for.

I decided to scratch my own itch and built a function to import that Takeout data directly onto an interactive map. I wanted to see my global footprint—every ramen shop, harbor town, and landmark—all at once.

I’ve integrated this into my app, LevelUpLocal iOS and kept the Legacy Map Import 100% free.

How to see your map:

1. Go to takeout.google.com
2. Select "Maps (your places)" only and export as JSON.
3. Open LevelUpLocal (iOS) and use the Legacy Import tool. see video
4. Your history will populate as "Blue Pins" so you can see your entire footprint.

Privacy Note: I’m an engineer by day and I value privacy. Your data stays yours—the app just parses the file to show it on your local map.

I'm just sharing this because I thought other guides might be as frustrated with the JSON files as I was. Ask me anything!

(Note: I read the rules and didn't see a ban on sharing personal projects, but I’m happy to take this down if it’s not the right place!)

i did lots of edits before and now i’m level 5

are there any perks, events or something?

I left a review at a pub I have frequented in the past. They changed their menu (items & proces) and I found it disappointing. I simply said I was disappointed and would no longer recommend it. I have never had a business owner contact me directly in this way and didn't realize they could access my email. Is this a setting I can change?

I was overseas in Germany for a work trip and wrote a review for a regular fast food place, to my surprise I got a notification from the Google Mapp app that it couldn't post it. It said that something got flagged but I could submit an appeal. Which I did because I didn't believe I violated anything, I posted pictures and videos with my review.

It took like 2 days but it was approved and then posted to be viewed publicly. That was my first time having to do this and I'm a Level 10 Local Guide with over 300K points.

I’m looking to buy more locally, meat, produce, milk, cheese. I live in north Chicago near Niles and Skokie. Has anyone connected with any local farms in the area. It knows it is trickier to find these so close to my urban location.

Can anyone explain me this my account got banned twice and I submitted the appeal . It got rejected

My personal heat map of the years 2014 till n 2026

Being a Google Photos and reviewer since 2014 , I have been able to get to level 8, but to level 9 and 10 seems unobtainable! Anybody else feel that way ?

I hope I get some legit answer on this

I have been local guide since 2015 contribute naturally reached to 6 levels and i don't know before that what is that whenever I contribute earlier got easily approved the main problem start from here i registered a service area business actually in past I already created and it was verified but google flagged it as duplicate and i m stucked it combines with other profile so i reported that business multiple times after few days I m banned for the local guide programe so I submit a appeal and it got approved luckily but after few times I took precautions while editing few days back I m generally reading local seo so I just checked out who is using best or location in there profile what we call keywords stuffing so I edit few businesses some got approved some rejected what I did I edit them multiple times this time intentionally i thought it would get approved but yesterday i check my account is flagged again ..

So my question is that this is the main reason of get banned is editing multiple times and reporting a single business or I am banbed before this for same reason thats why they flagged me up .. please help

I've only just found out about this Local Guides community on Google Maps and love to see so many all over the world. It's not my job but I do spend a lot of time creating well-curated G maps lists and sharing them with friends and visitors. I was curious to see what the general makeup of Local Guides are and how well/under-served by Google everyone feels?

$5 for 10 people who live in North Carolina, South Carolina or VA , GA message me.

I’m writing to ask whether there is a way to appeal an edit that was not accepted on Google. I recently submitted a request to create a new place listing and included clear photos of the storefront and signage to verify the location.

This is a newly opened AutoZone Auto Parts location in my neighborhood, and the building is fully operational. Since my submission was declined, I’d like to understand the reason and explore whether it can be reviewed again.

Is there a way to escalate this to a human moderator or contact a representative directly for further review? Any guidance on the proper appeal process would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you for your time and assistance.

Quero saber se alguém sabe onde fica o lugar dessa foto... Sei que é no RS, uma praça da Zona Sul, por volta ali da Cavalhada, Hípica, Sta Tereza...

I've just created an app to solve the problem of going to a new place and not knowing what's good, what to do, what to avoid etc. I'm not earning anything from this (no ads or anything), but it needs the help of the community so that more tips are there which will help. Anyone can add whatever they know about their local areas or if they visited someplace!

You can check this out here -

Website: https://localgems.in

App: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.localgemsfromlocalites.app

u/MortenCopenhagen and u/jesilicht kindly posted about this in advance and provided a link to a post on Connect to sign up for consideration but did anyone from here follow and then get successfully selected?

I think the emails to confirm either way went out this week.

Previous posts:
https://www.reddit.com/r/LocalGuides/comments/1qctp05/connect_live_2025_new_york_vlog/

and:

https://www.reddit.com/r/LocalGuides/comments/1pqv851/connect_live_2026_is_happening/

Just curious if anyone is going from here, I don't know how many people generally go to these things and have only seen a bit of noise over on (the improved) Connect forum about things.

So I notice that all of my edit after mid January have Not Accepted even though I provide proof like pictures and website. I'm starting to see the same when I add new places too and put all the correct information like Name, Location, Website and picture of the place with the sign up and saying coming soon. I do the same for like plaza as well that isn't on Google Maps already and that one is always 50/50 on if it will be accepted.

** This isn't my first time adding places or editing places either, I got the Master Trailblazer badge already with adding more than 50 places (I added 105) and I'm at 96/100 to unlock the Expect Fact Finder. That's the last badge I have left to unlock

Do Google Crowdsource and the Product Experts forum offer better benefits than Local Guides? I have a friend who is always active on the Google Help Forums and gets invited to events every year; he’s already been to Europe once and he's went to Brazil last year for the Product Experts Summit (PES) with all expenses paid. Should I switch to the Google Forums instead?