LetsGuide Podcast

In the past few months quite a bit of exciting new things have popped up, both on Google Maps and in the local guides program. So what else could I do but put together a brand new “News & Updates” episode?

And as a bonus we have some exciting details about the upcoming EuroMeetup 2024 in Manchester.

In February 2019, the first episode of the LetsGuide Podcast was released. That is now 5 years ago, and to celebrate this milestone, I decided to make a special episode - one where the content is created by the listeners.

So, a while ago I reached out to the audience in several ways asking to submit audio clips with answers to 4 questions. And this is where you now get to hear the result, with contributions from local guides, Connect moderators, Google moderators and even members of the Google Maps team.

Okay, not only is the Google Maps team continuously releasing new features, I’m now also receiving an increasing amount of messages from fellow local guides and podcast listeners about novelties they have noticed. So, it is high time for another news & updates episode. Do stick around until the end, as I’m also covering a few news items that I have not shared anywhere yet.

Sometimes you come across special projects using Google Maps as their main tool. Perhaps you might recall episode 12 about EdPins, a project focusing on schools. In this episode we look at a project that aims to add water taps, places where you can refill your water bottle, to Google Maps. And you will also find out how local guides can help in getting this ambitious project realized.

In episode 35 we covered the basics about adding roads, but since then a lot has been going on in exactly that domain, so here’s another episode with additional info on adding roads, which also includes official answers from the Google team to a number of questions I was able to submit to them.

And you’ll certainly want to stick around until the end of the episode, as there’s a section with some exciting news items as well.

It has only been 3 months or so since the previous ‘News & Updates’ episode, but still I have already come across enough topics to fill another one. So here we go again: an overview of the interesting and/or newsworthy things related to Google Maps and the local guides program that I have encountered in the past few months.

The very first episode of the LetsGuide Podcast dates back to February 2019 - more than 4 years ago. It was called “The basics”, as it explained in detail what it means to be a local guide. For a while now, I have been wanting to make an update of it, but I didn’t like the idea of putting a lot of work into that. So the solution I came up with is to simply ask ChatGPT to write it - and that’s exactly what I did. Of course, having to record all those AI-generated texts with my own voice would also be a considerable effort, so I decided to have the answers ChatGPT provided read aloud by AI-generated text to speech software. So I present to you: the basic info about the local guides program, as created and read aloud by AI.

It’s been a while since we had a News & Updates episode, and obviously, the Google Maps team has not been sitting around idly all that time - which means it’s high time to check out again what new features have been introduced (or spotted as preview) in Google Maps and what’s new in the local guides community.

There is a lot of information on Google Maps - an overwhelming amount in fact. If you zoom in or out, other types of information will be shown to you: e.g. city or even country names if you’re zoomed out, and individual street or place names when you’re zooming in. Other types of information can also be displayed when you have specific needs, such as traffic information when you are driving.

All of that information is stored and organized on the map in layers - and that is the topic of this episode. 

Being an active local guide is to some extent a numbers game. There are the points you earn when you contribute to Google Maps, the levels you reach by getting those points and the counters for the different types of contributions (how many reviews you wrote, how many questions you have answered, etc.), but the most impressive number is beyond any doubt the counter of the views for the pictures you have uploaded. Lots of local guides have seen this count go up into the millions - some even into the billions.

But what is really shown there? What exactly are those ‘views’ and where do they come from? Are there perhaps any tips or hacks to make sure your pictures reach a crazy high view count? In this episode, we will try to answer those questions and find out the truth about views.

One of the consequences of publishing podcast episodes less frequently, is that I will need to do a “News & Updates” episode every couple of episodes, I guess - especially if the Google Maps team keeps bringing out new features at the current pace. But I have understood from the feedback that most of the audience likes these episodes, so here we go again: more news and updates about Google Maps and the local guides program!

Google provides a dedicated forum for Local Guides to get in touch with one another and share their experiences. That is - as you will probably know - Local Guides Connect. On that platform the moderation is handled on the one hand by some Google employees, the Google Moderators, and on the other hand by selected Local Guides, the Connect Moderators. In this episode we’ll have a closer look at those Connect Moderators, and you will actually hear the info from those Connect Moderators themselves.

AI (Artificial Intelligence) is definitely one of the most used buzzwords in recent years. And Google is definitely a major contributor in that field. But when it comes to using Google Maps and being a Local Guide, some of the things we see pop up or get proposed by the algorithms don’t seem to be intelligent at all. In this episode we will cover some specific examples of what I would rather call Artificial Unintelligence and suggest possible fixes. Let’s hope it can help the Google team deliver an even better user experience.

There are a bunch of novelties again, both about Google Maps and the Local Guides program, so it’s time for another News & Updates episode.

When you click on the profile picture of a local guide in Google Maps, a screen pops up listing the number of contributions (s)he has made, split up by type of contribution. In most cases there are high numbers for Photos and Answers, sometimes also for Reviews. But the contribution type where you are most likely to see a 0 is ‘Roads Added’. Perhaps all the roads have already been added? Or perhaps it is extremely difficult to add roads to Maps? In this episode you will find out that this is most certainly not the case and you will get loads of tips on how to get rid of that nasty 0, should that be there on your local guides profile.

The Local Guides program in Google Maps is 100% based on volunteer work. There is no payment for the contributions we all make on Maps. Still the topic Local Guides and money is at times heavily debated, so in this episode I want to answer some questions relating to this topic, such as: What exactly is not allowed? And are there nevertheless ways to earn money with Google Maps? (Spoiler: yes, there are.) And if so: should you go down that path?

Not everything you see on Google Maps belongs there. Quite a few entries are in fact spam, often added on purpose for malicious or at least deceptive reasons. In this episode I discuss that topic with Jason Brown, an absolute specialist in fighting such spam entries. Jason is a Platinum Google My Business (GMB) Product Expert. He’s also a Local SEO specialist and - the main reason why we have him here - a dedicated GMB spam fighter. On Twitter he even calls himself the “Unofficial Sheriff of Google”.

Look, this Google Maps team is seriously messing up my planning. Typically I record one episode per month on a specific topic related to the Local Guides program, and I then add a short section at the end where I talk about new features. But they keep releasing so much new stuff and revealing a seemingly endless list of interesting facts, that I am now forced to make a dedicated episode to tell you all about these wonderful newsworthy topics (18 of them if you add it all up) in full length. Actually I don’t mind doing that at all, I even love it, and I’m pretty confident that the majority of the audience feels the same way.

An important element of the Local Guides program is the gamification - the fact that you can earn points by contributing to Google Maps and that those points help you reach higher levels. The highest level you can reach as local guide is level 10 - and judging by what Mara Chomsky, Global Lead of the Local Guides program at Google, told us in the interview I had with her a couple of episodes ago, there are no plans to introduce additional levels any time soon. For this episode I have therefore invited a number of level 10 local guides for a short interview and asked them to share their secret tips on how to reach level 10.

The last few weeks and months, quite a few of the ways you can suggest edits on Google Maps have changed - both in terms of the processes and the screens that are presented to Local Guides in the Maps app. In this episode we will explore what exactly has changed and find out whether things have gotten better or worse.

Not all contributions on Google Maps are made by local guides. A lot of information is also contributed by the businesses shown on Maps - either by the business owners or by marketing agencies working on their behalf. In this episode we will have a closer look at those agencies by interviewing Rasmus Himmelstrup, a local guide who works for such an agency.

In this episode we will explore some of the intricacies local guides are faced with when adding places to Google Maps or editing existing ones: we take a deep dive into the official (and sometimes curious) guidelines on how to proceed in several exceptional situations.

In this very special episode you can listen to an interview with none other than Mara Chomsky, Global Lead of the Local Guides program – the big boss, so to speak. In the interview she talks about the role the local guides program plays at Google, and reveals some insights about the history of the program and its future.

Two of the activities a lot of local guides most frequently engage in are: giving places on Google Maps ratings (1 to 5 stars) and writing reviews for them. Those are also activities Google time and again encourages all Maps users to do, no doubt because they are one of the major reasons why people consult Maps. In this episode we will therefore dig into the secrets of ratings and reviews.

One of the most powerful things you can do as a local guide is to change the information available on Google Maps, either by adding things or by editing data points of the places already on the map. When you then submit those edits, they are of course verified and in this episode we explain how this verification process works.

A relatively new feature on Google Maps are lists: lists of landmarks worth visiting, the best pizzerias in town, and many more. Google seems to put quite a bit of focus on them, both by creating lists themselves and by encouraging local guides to create them, so in today’s episode we’ll explore that topic in more detail.

The way local guides can and should interact with Google Maps is constantly being updated. What has changed in the last few weeks and months? What is new? Are there any updates about the topics we already covered?

Being a local guide is all about adding content to Google Maps or editing things already on it. To do that in a proper way, you need to be confident that whatever you add to the map is correct information, based on reliable sources. In this episode we will investigate which sources of information local guides have at their disposal, but also which sources of information are perhaps not the best to use.

In the ‘career’ of a lot of local guides badges play an important role, at it seems to matter a lot if you have e.g. a level 9 badge, or a Master Photographer one, or a Totally Popular badge. In this episode we will explore which badges there are and share some tips on how to get hold of them.

Unlike most episodes, this one does not focus on 1 specific topic, but is rather a collection of fun facts I have gathered along the way while being active as local guide. Some of those are, no doubt, things that at least some of you will already know, but others I am revealing here for the very first time.

Early 2020 I have initiated a project called Local Guides Clean The Map (#LGCTM). The goal of the project is to remove places or contributions from Google Maps that do not or no longer belong there. How can you find those places? And what should local guides do to make sure they get removed from the map?

This episode is not covering Google Maps as such, but another Google product: Crowdsource. To explain what Crowdsource is all about, and why you as local guide might find it very interesting, I had an interview with Crowdsource Product Manager Anurag Batra.

In this episode we look into the contributions Local Guides can make when visiting shopping centers/shopping malls. Basically those are the same as for other places on Maps, but still there are some aspects here that require some special consideration. So let's dive into some 'Local Guide best practices' when it comes to shopping centers.

One of the terms you come across frequently among Local Guides in their conversations on social media and on Local Guides Connect, the official forum, is ‘Connect Live’. What is it exactly and why does it create such excitement with so many Local Guides? In this episode you will find out the answer to those questions.

One of the main activities of local guides is uploading pictures to points of interest (POI) on Google Maps. And it typically gives them a lot of satisfaction when those pictures then get a lot of views, or even get featured (shown as the main image for the POI). In today’s episode we have an interview with an expert in that subject matter: Torben Mauch (@TorM).

Being a local guide is all about contributing to Google Maps, but at times it can be interesting to exchange information and experiences with other local guides. One of the best ways to do this is attending or even hosting so-called Meetups. In this episode you find out what these Meetups are all about and what typically goes on when local guides meet in real life.

The way local guides can and should interact with Google Maps is constantly being updated. What has changed since the last News & Updates podcast episode? What is new? Are there updates for the topics we already covered in previous episodes?

Google Maps can be used in surprisingly creative ways. An excellent example is #EdPins, an initiative with the motto “Putting learning on the map”. In this episode we have an interview with Dale Plotzki, the man behind #EdPins – and more.

A crucial data point for each place on Google Maps is the Map Marker (or pin), the exact point where the place is located on the map. Why is that so important? What is the optimal spot to put the pins? And how can local guides help to correct errors on the current map?

To reach Level 5 as Local Guide, you need to “score” 500 points. That sounds like a lot, but it is actually perfectly possible to do that in a single day – without violating any of the rules and, most importantly, by making genuine and meaningful contributions.

The list of categories that you can use in Google Maps to classify places is designed in English and the category names are then translated into other languages. What is different about these local language categories? What should you pay attention to when using them?

The way local guides can and should interact with Google Maps is constantly being updated. What has changed since the podcast started? What is new? Are there updates for the topics we already covered?

Google provides an official platform for local guides, called Local Guides Connect. What exactly can you find there? What can local guides do there? And why should you definitely check it out? 

What happens if you break the rules set by Google? Should you care about that? This episode covers the main issues that can bring Local Guides into trouble – no matter if they are breaking the rules on purpose or by accident. 

The first thing you see about a point of interest (POI) on Google Maps is the name. What is the proper way to enter it? What are the best practices? What should you not do? 

On quite a few places on Google Maps you will see a button 'Claim this business'. What is meant with this? How does it work? And why should all businesses do it? 

Adding pictures to places on Google Maps is one of the main activities of Local Guides. But which ones should you upload? What should you pay attention to? 

All places on Google Maps have a category. What exactly is this? Why are they so important? How to select the right one? 

Episode 1 covers the basic information about the Google Local Guides program: What is it? Who are these Local Guides? Why do they do it?