Google recently pushed a fairly important update to google maps, an update that I for one hope will actually start to make it reliable. You see outside of the google mother country........ wait that's Ireland according to Australian tax records.....but I digress. Anyway here in Australia google maps is broken, very, very broken. I know this because I use it and generally depend on it. Depending on it to the point that I have now been late to two weddings (sorry cous, how was I to know you were on the other side of the mountain) and numerous work appointments. The problem over here is that lots of businesses are just not in the database and if they are their location is usually completely wrong, not just on the other side of the road wrong, blocks and suburbs wrong. In the case of the two weddings, one had me driving to a dead end inside a private farm, 45min from the actual site and the other was at the completely wrong end of an esplanade. This was in an urban environment as well, move away from a major city and you can pretty much give up.
Googles answer...... make the user work and I couldn't be happier. Enter Local guides. https://www.google.com/local/guides/home
Google now rewards you to fix their maps. They give you a reason, a goal and a purpose to update there information and still make it easy to change a location, add photo's and importantly add missing sites. The last is my mission, I live in regional Queensland, Australia and we are doing it hard with drought. Small country towns are relying on the tourist dollar to make money and survive and yet 80% of them are not even on google maps.
Here is an example of a site a added today. https://www.google.com.au/maps/plac...9d90984e138f09:0x16651c8581728d7f?hl=en&hl=en
Capers cafe in Cooktown; probably the best food within 400km and yet no maps presence. It took me about 4min's to submit it to maps and for my efforts I get local guide points, plus the good feeling that hopefully I will help this business. This is my small way of helping this community survive and grow during the hard times.
BTW it's not just all about helping others there are some cool rewards for local guides, reach level 4 and you may be given 1TB of drive storage! All you have to do is signup at https://www.google.com/local/guides/home and start updating from the maps app.
Any other local guides out there?
Googles answer...... make the user work and I couldn't be happier. Enter Local guides. https://www.google.com/local/guides/home
Google now rewards you to fix their maps. They give you a reason, a goal and a purpose to update there information and still make it easy to change a location, add photo's and importantly add missing sites. The last is my mission, I live in regional Queensland, Australia and we are doing it hard with drought. Small country towns are relying on the tourist dollar to make money and survive and yet 80% of them are not even on google maps.
Here is an example of a site a added today. https://www.google.com.au/maps/plac...9d90984e138f09:0x16651c8581728d7f?hl=en&hl=en
Capers cafe in Cooktown; probably the best food within 400km and yet no maps presence. It took me about 4min's to submit it to maps and for my efforts I get local guide points, plus the good feeling that hopefully I will help this business. This is my small way of helping this community survive and grow during the hard times.
BTW it's not just all about helping others there are some cool rewards for local guides, reach level 4 and you may be given 1TB of drive storage! All you have to do is signup at https://www.google.com/local/guides/home and start updating from the maps app.
Any other local guides out there?
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As you said, it's not just for rewards, but I want a more accurate Google Maps, and as much as we all use the app, we can all help make it even more accurate.
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