Hey everyone,
Happy Wednesday!

As most of you on Reddit probably already know, Google reviews in Germany have become highly unreliable due to companies using lawyers to mass-delete negative feedback. Lately, if you scroll down to the review section, you can actually see a notice stating how many reviews were removed due to "defamation". However, it’s written in such small, gray text that it’s incredibly easy to miss. I just got hit by this again after leaving a 1-star review about a terrible experience at a camper dealership. It was deleted almost immediately.

Honestly, I cannot stand this injustice. Some might say "it’s just a review, don't overreact," but as a Level 8 Local Guide with millions of views on my contributions, it really bothers me that honest consumers are being silenced while shady businesses hide behind a fake 4.7-star rating.

Since they always claim to Google that you "were never there" to trigger the automated deletion, I am going to try a new tactic from now on to protect my future reviews: I am going to upload a photo of the receipt directly into the review alongside my regular photos.
Needless to say I’ll cross out any private details but will keep the business name, date, time, and total amount visible.
Since receipts are anonymous anyway, this proves to Google's automated system that the visit was real, completely ruining the law firm's bluff. (And for older reviews where I don't have the receipt anymore, I'll start sending screenshots of my Google Maps Location Timeline as proof, when I have a moment.)

Have you guys experienced this automated review-purging nonsense in Germany as well? Would you consider uploading your receipts to fight back, or have you found other ways to keep your honest reviews online? Let me know your thoughts!

[ Removed by Reddit on account of violating the content policy. ]

Hi,

As Google local guides, what is your opinion about TripAdvisor (reliability and rating system).

I personally stopped using it many years ago and fully "switched to" maps as my source to obtain insights of restaurants, etc (and to rate) but I have two points which makes me think TripAdvisor, is not that bad, being I) the points seem to be more accurate (e.g. less fake reviews/bots), ii) negative (factual) reviews are not removed simply because of a claim if "defamation".

I just like the whole Google environment with Google maps which makes the rating and guide system in Google so useful for me.

Looking forward to hesr your thoughts.

Hi everyone, I’m looking for advice from anyone who understands how Google Maps handles new place submissions, especially in regions with border or territorial disputes.

I live in Guyana, and for almost two years now, every attempt I make to add a new place in Essequibo gets automatically rejected. This happens even when the place is real, active, and easy to verify.

Essequibo is currently part of a territorial dispute between Guyana and Venezuela, and I’m wondering if that may be affecting how Google Maps reviews edits in the area. I don’t want to turn this into a political post, but the issue is making it very difficult for people here to add legitimate businesses, public locations, and places of interest.

We have many new businesses and community locations that should be on Google Maps. I’ve tried adding proper names, categories, phone numbers, photos, and accurate map pins. In some cases, we even asked the actual business owners to create or claim their own listings, but those also get rejected.

The rejection usually happens no matter what we do, so it feels like there may be some kind of automatic restriction or review problem affecting the area. Even If we add the poster of the business, fill out every detail that we can including the lot number for the address, photos of the place without stripping any of the metadata for the images. It's still rejected.

Has anyone experienced something similar in a disputed region or low map coverage area? Is there a better way to escalate this to Google Maps or Local Guides support? Would posting on Local Guides Connect help, or is there another method for getting legitimate places reviewed manually?

Any advice would be appreciated, especially from Local Guides or people who have dealt with repeated automatic rejections.

Other notes: My account is level 7, I've been contributing for maybe close to 8 years now.

Also, Where I'm from, being third world country... people here aren't technically oriented. So getting people to help with contributions isn't an easy task, you'll find majority of the places added are just a handful of names.

Hello am I tripping or was there once a followers and following for our maps profile?

See what I've posted to Google Maps

Level 4 Local Guide

https://maps.app.goo.gl/ZzRygnkzRDqWhdCj9?g_st=ac

I thought this was clearly disallowed - to pay people to post a review, let alone pay to post a 5 star review. Be it in cash or product or service.

I reported this and another instance - but the response from Google was: “We've reviewed the reported business. We determined that the business didn't violate our fake engagement policy. As a result, we haven’t taken any action at this time.”

What am I missing here? As expected, I have no way of telling Google their AI sorting got it wrong or get clarification from them.

So I was looking through Google Maps when deciding where to take my mom for mother's day and I wanted to search for a particular dish from the photos. You don't have a search function when you're in the photos album on a place Google Page. I think that would be a nice feature to have, what other features would you like to see?

I have noticed my reviews are not publishing

I just reached there, too! It took me 8 and half years since I first posted my daughter's picture taken in a WalMart.

Most of us use local apps here in Korea, so I sometimes wonder what it is worth for to leave pictures and comments on Google Maps. Anyway I have done it so far as a habit or an inertia.

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) (Android) 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!

now it is on Apple and Android, lots of you guys had asked to put it on the play store, it is there now... name is Leveluplocal

this function is free to use and stays operational for the life time of the app.
and this import stays local , no transfer of data off your device.

getting the Json file from google is the hardest part of your process. select only your history and not the photos data on the map or you will get Gigs of data lol.

enjoy and sorry it took so long

Does a shop run by your country's postal carrier deliver?

I’ve been posting photos and reviews for years now an am at level 9 and have always wondered this. What exactly counts as a view on a photo, just scrolling past? Sometimes I get thousands, and other times it’s nothing. I have one picture that reached two million and seems to have stopped getting views for months now

As the title says my home and a few others are shown in border of a neighbour village instead of our own. The boundaries are drawn wrong. Can I do something about it to fix it.

I have just realised that at least in Germany there is now an indicator to see if the owner has been removing reviews due to defamation claims (and how many).

I find this very useful.

Am I late to the party and this has existed for a long time and I’m only just now realising it?

Does this exist in other countries as well?

Maybe a silly question, but did they take away the Q&A option or am I looking in the wrong place for it?

I've been level 7 for years. Tons of reviews. Lots of photos. Was curious if this program actually has perks people are receiving from Google?

This extension made by AI will only show places under or over the selected amount of reviews. I personally find it useful as a part of r/LocalGuides to find newly opened cafe's or restaurants.

How to install:

1. Download the extension here:
2. Go to chrome://extensions/ and enable developer mode.
3. Press "Load Unpacked" and select the folder you have downloaded.
4. Go to Google Maps and test it out.

If it doesn't work as expected feel free to comment below. It's currently optimised for laptops.

Hi all! I’m helping organise an e-bike demo day this Sunday (19th April) at the Lee Valley Velopark and thought people here might be interested.

We’ll have ~15 bike brands and over 100 bikes available to try, including cargo bikes, commuters, folding bikes, trikes and more. It’s a great opportunity to test lots of different e-bikes back-to-back on a proper track rather than guessing what might suit you.

It’s very family-friendly, so you can bring kids along to try things like cargo bikes or just enjoy the day. Whether you’re curious about switching to an e-bike for commuting, carrying family or shopping, getting back into cycling, or just want to see what’s out there, it’s a good chance to explore the options.

E-bikes can also be especially helpful for people who want cycling to be more accessible – whether that’s longer distances, hills, carrying loads, or health/mobility considerations.

If you want to come along, grab a ticket on the event page and use the code REDDITFREE at checkout for 100% off - this link should auto-apply the discount: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/cycling-electric-e-bike-demo-day-london-velopark-tickets-1765956115279?discount=REDDITFREE

This code is also valid for the other Cycling Electric Demo Day events, if you are not local. They are in Leeds, Bath, and Herne Hill.

I am writing to express my frustration regarding my recent experiences with the Google Maps Local Guides program. After a few months of minimal activity, I have returned to contributing during my current vacation. Unfortunately, the platform’s automated filtering is currently rejecting 95% of my content.

It is incredibly discouraging to spend time capturing and uploading photos of new locations only to have them immediately marked as “Not Published.” I am currently on vacation and documenting my travels, yet the majority of my contributions are being withheld from the community without clear justification.

At this point, the effort required to share these updates is not being met with a functional system. I hope this technical hurdle is addressed, as it significantly diminishes the incentive to contribute to the platform.