Welcome to /r/LocalGuides

I'm trying to add a path as a trail and I can't seem to find anything regarding bike trails in the "Add or fix a road" section of Google Maps, is there another place where I'm supposed to submit them?

So I’ve been trying for over 6 months to leave google reviews on a contractor that stole a lot of money from my mom and cannot get them to post. I’ve tried editing the post, just leaving a screenshot, different emails and nothing works. She has won a judgement against him but he continues to ignore all correspondence. There are three warrants out for his arrest. If anyone can help with sorting out why the reviews won’t post, I would greatly appreciate it so no other fall prey to him. Please dm me if you can help

Hello, I have a bug which seems to come from Google maps, when I post videos there is no sound in some cases.

I ran some tests and found this:

• Videos posted in a review = no sound
• Videos posted in the news tab = no sound
• Videos posted from the photo tab = sound activated if the sound option is checked at the time of publication

I would like to know if other people have the same problem. I tried on another phone (Android) and it's the same thing.

Until you reach level 7 there won't seem to be any benefit to making contributions. But at level 7, edit suggestions that take around 24 hours to get approved start taking 2 hours or less to get approved.

Aside fron what seems like the most popular request, which is some incentive or rewards for local guides as you increase your level, what would be the best feature request for the local guides platform?

I personally think new badges for local guides that specialize in a certain category, like Pizza master or National Park Warrior, might improve the platform and improve the overall quality of reviews.

Hello any local guides around OKC or any that can suggest an edit here since google is not approving the change for the website Here is the lisiting: https://www.google.com/search? q=Village+Pizza+10914+N+Pennsylvania+Ave%2 C+Oklahoma+City+0K%2C+73120&rlz=1C1GCEU _en&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8 Here is the correct website link : http:// villagepizzaoklahomacity.com since the one that is there someone took it and is a gambling website anyone that can help me i appriciate it.

Sorry but I just want to rant a little

Honestly the AI is really making me go crazy. I write a very passionate review of one of the best places I ever been to and add a few photos. After posting it it doesn't get accepted and I decide to see if it's the photos so I post the review without photos. It gets accepted, then I only add the photos of the food and it then doesn't get accepted again. How can pictures of food make the review be against community guidelines??? It makes no sense!

Hey Guys, I have tried everything to delete my local guide account, but it's literally impossible.

Can someone help to delete my account completely?

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/cma-secures-important-changes-from-google-to-tackle-fake-reviews

I just stumbled across this press release from the UK Competition and Markets Authority while looking for any insights there might be over the sudden "Posting Reviews is turned off..." message some people have started to report.

This could be a coincidence but they have said that:

Google has agreed to make significant changes to its processes for tackling fake reviews – meaning people can have more trust in the reviews they see.

The undertakings signed by Google require the firm to sanction UK businesses that have boosted their star ratings with fake reviews – as well as sanctioning people who have written fake reviews for UK businesses

Google has committed to put ‘warning’ alerts on the profiles of UK businesses that use fake reviews to boost their star ratings

CMA CEO: “Left unchecked, fake reviews damage people’s trust and leave businesses who do the right thing at a disadvantage”

And:

To address the CMA’s concerns, Google’s undertakings include:

An enhanced approach to tackling fake reviews: Google has committed to rigorous steps to detect and remove fake reviews – enabling it to rapidly identify and investigate businesses and reviewers that profit from fake reviews.

Consequences for rogue reviewers around the world: Individuals who repeatedly post fake or misleading reviews for UK businesses (positive or negative) will have their reviews deleted and will be banned from posting new reviews – regardless of their location.

Consequences for UK businesses: The undertakings mean that businesses found to be boosting their star ratings via fake reviews will have prominent ‘warning’ alerts added to their Google profiles to flag to consumers that suspicious activity has been detected. This will be visible on businesses’ Google profiles, where their overall review scores are shown. Businesses will also have their review function deactivated, meaning they cannot receive any new reviews. Those firms that repeatedly engage in fake review activity will have all their reviews deleted for 6 months or more.

Easier reporting: The undertakings commit Google to put in place a robust reporting function that allows consumers to easily and quickly report concerning reviews. This includes the ability to report ‘incentives’ – i.e. a payment or reward in exchange for a positive review – which will apply regardless of whether the incentive is offered in person or online.

To ensure Google is complying with the undertakings it has signed, the firm will report to the CMA over a 3-year period.

I'd be interested to know what mechanisms are being used to identify these businesses (I know they will never tell) and for there to be an enhanced reporting mechanism for us to also flaf them (again I know they will never do this) but this looks like progress right?

Recently uploaded quite a detailed review for a large supermarket with >30 pics and looks like it got flagged lol. Quite annoying

I have an alert titled 'Reviews that may not represent a genuine experience were recently removed' and when i click on details it says, "Posting Reviews is Turned Off for This Place: Google has turned off posting reviews due to a recent increase in suspicious high rated reviews. The suspicious reviews were removed and the rating updated'

I have no idea which place this is about. Am I being targeted for allegedly providing fake reviews or just something that I reviewed also had fake reviews?

I was recently prompted for a review for my favorite restaurant. I thought maybe it was a new entry because it had the city name in parentheses after it, but after I posted my new review it attached all my photos I had previously uploaded on my old review. Another restaurant I reviewed years ago had a vanished review.

These were both very positive reviews for restaurants I've been going to for a long time (16 years for one, 20 for the other) so I know they wouldn't have wanted them reviewed. Both were updated within the last year. My daughter's and ex wife's reviews still appear.

Anyone else have this happen?

I've posted previously on this, both due to my own experience dining somewhere awful with great reviews that turned out to be in exchange for free shots and to share the Honest Guide video talking about the same:

https://youtu.be/u8go1JbhS_A

I'm now seeing more and more 5* reviews from people doing it for the first time where a server or member of staff is named, reviews that appear to be from more experienced LGs generally reveal issues at these locations.

As we know this goes against Google policies:

https://support.google.com/contributionpolicy/answer/7400114?hl=en

"We do not allow merchants to:

Offer incentives – such as payment, discounts, free goods and/or services - in exchange for posting any review or revision or removal of a negative review"

Yet there's no mechanism to highlight this to Google in a meaningful way and the AI can't replace the local insights, across multiple platforms, we can provide.

The image I've shared forms part of an Instagram post from a local place to me, I've been a couple of times and felt a 3* was fair, it's "OK" but could be better. Others have been more brutal with 1* reviews and there's been some 4* and 5* ones that seem legit.

But now it's all 5* reviews from one time reviewers chasing vouchers, this doesn't sit right with me.

I'm seeing similar patterns elsewhere locally too, generally highlighted by specific staff members being named by the reviewer.

Are the rest if you seeing more and more of this too? Reporting individual reviews is fruitless so what do we do to try and uphold the integrity of the platform without the support of the platform owner?

I'm level 7 now. And I probably shouldn't be.

does anyone else think reviews are way too inflated in canada/US? people perceive anything below 4 stars as bad, and in turn if you rate anything below 4*s it could be really damaging to the business. so then you have all these mediocre places being rated 4.5/5 stars. if a place is average it should be getting 3/5, if its better than average it should be a 4, and if its excellent it should be a 5.

this is discouraging when it comes to writing reviews because there are places that ive enjoyed but definitely do not deserve a 4/5*, and i know some people choose not to review unless theyve had a great experience but then this furthers the review inflation because now the only reviews out there are positive and everywhere has a high rating even if it doesnt deserve it

I've been an active contributor on Google Maps for a while now. I’ve written countless reviews, rated places, uploaded photos, and even corrected some info here and there. It started as a fun way to share my experiences and maybe help people find good spots or avoid bad ones. Plus, I won't lie: seeing my contributions get likes and views felt rewarding.

But recently, I've started questioning it. I realized that all this effort, while helpful to others, is essentially unpaid work for Google. They’re profiting off user-generated content like mine, and what do I get? A virtual badge, some "points" and maybe the thrill of knowing I helped someone. But in the end, I’m just adding value to a massive corporation that doesn't really give back.

It feels like my time and effort could be better spent elsewhere—on something that adds value to me or my personal projects. I’m starting to feel like I’ve been putting in energy for free labor disguised as a "community effort"

Has anyone else had this realization? Did you stop contributing, or do you think the value you provide to others outweighs the lack of tangible rewards?

PS: Another frustrating thing is that when I take the time to write a well-thought-out review, Google sometimes just deletes it or doesn’t publish it for no clear reason. It’s demotivating to put effort into sharing genuine experiences only to have them vanish without explanation.

TL;DR: I love writing reviews on Google Maps but feel like I’m doing free labor for a billion-dollar company. Thinking about stopping—anyone else in the same boat?

I have few gmail accounts, in google maps i switched somehow. Upload review. Blocked. I think it was blocked before. So i filled form, removed review, removed few older reviews from main account, they replied, all is ok. But its still blocked. No reason.

Note to form: This form worked in 2024. Sent form. Recieved email. Then three weeks later responded that all is ok, but actually nothing happened, still blocked, no reason.

But in 2025 its not working anymore - meaning form is up, i fill and send, but i dont recieve acknowledgment and 3 weeks later no updates.

Also there is no guide what is allowed or not. Algo just do ot randomly and dont bothers point what is bad.

Help please.

When going to edit a previous review to add update pics keep getting the above message. Is there any fix

Hello!

I've long wondered how I achieve Local Guide status?

I have over 1.7k contributions and over 1.1 million view on photos I've contributed over the past 5+ years I've been adding to this :/

What I am doing/missing?

Google altered the font on reviews and replies. >!​!<

https://preview.redd.it/0ckpy1kh1see1.png?width=1920&format=png&auto=webp&s=d89dc8cf0f4cff81bcb1ac0220b0642386af794d

Hi everyone,

I’ve been struggling to verify my business on Google for quite some time now, and I’m not sure what else to do. The only option I get is the video recording method, but every time I submit a video, it gets rejected.

I’ve followed all the guidelines Google provides, but nothing seems to work, and their support hasn’t been able to help me resolve this either.

Has anyone else had this issue before? Do you have any tips or know what I might be doing wrong? Any advice would be greatly appreciated, as this is really holding me back.

Thank you in advance for your help

Hi everyone,

I hope it’s okay to ask this here. I’ve been trying to verify my small business on Google for some time now, but I keep running into issues. I’ve followed all the steps, tried multiple times, and even reached out to Google support, but nothing seems to work.

I noticed how many of you are passionate about helping others as Local Guides, and I was wondering if anyone here might have some advice or experience with this process?

Any tips or guidance would be greatly appreciated – I’m really stuck and not sure what else to try.

Thanks so much in advance for your help!

I’m looking into local shops in US or Canada and was hoping you could point me in the direction of any places where rewards programs are especially popular. I’m interested in spots where loyalty programs really make a difference for customers, whether it’s for shopping, dining, or other services. Any suggestions would be super helpful!

It never takes this long what’s the solution?

Have you guys gotten this? I don’t do much on there lol. They keep giving me these updates about my posts getting tonssss of views but I don’t get anything out of it lmao. Can I? 👀

Posted a photo yesterday, not showing up, even under my profile. Any ideas?

Basically title, I'm putting together my CV. There's a section under linkedin for Honors & awards. Can you put your Local Guide Badge as an achievement there? I got the physical contributor tag too earlier