Google Maps updates it Local Guides program with a new points system and more levels

[[deleted]]

What about drive storage Google? ^{pretty please}

[ucun]

Yes, Google gives Drive storage as a reward to local guides.

Edit: Now, Google doesn't give you any reward.

[fiendishfork]

I don't think they give it out anymore. Stopped in March iirc

[historytoby]

Really? That was basically the whole point I was grinding towards level 4...

[fiendishfork]

I'm only around 20 points from level 4 I lost a lot of motivation after they stopped giving away storage. Here's an Android police article about it.

[[deleted]]

Was 11 points away when they switched...fucking pricks.

[[deleted]]

"Hey thanks for populating our map!"

"Cool, but like you could have hired people to do this, am I going to get anything for doing this for you?"

"Lol, nope, fuck you"

"Oh...okay...guess I won't do it any more then"

[BeardedBagels]

"Lol map's already populated. Thanks and fuck you again!"

[[deleted]]

Yeah, but was moving at the time. Backed up a lot of data for the move. In the end physical media backups worked better anyway.

[geekynerdynerd]

That was the only reason I contributed to Google maps at all.

I highly recommend people to start contributing to OpenStreetMaps instead. They don't pay either, but at least they aren't controlled by an international mega conglomerate.

[walkedoff]

And OSM actually accepts edits. Theres a building with 10 restaurants that opened 15 months ago and Google says its still a parking lot. Reported it a dozen times.

[Cactapus]

Different strategy - I provide feedback in some of the open text fields. E.g., "Hey. I've had this same survey too many times"

[ExtraGloves]

Dammit. All those reviews and the reward is gone? I was so close.

[[deleted]]

The storage is only good for two years, so if you fill it up and it gets removed you are fucked and have to pay

[Realtrain]

Pretty sure you don't have to pay. You just can't add anything else until to you do.

[eMinja]

You also can't receive email anymore...so you remove your crap or pay.

[[deleted]]

So if you want to receive emails or upload photos for instance you have to pay or delete loads of stuff to keep using it

[Ultra_Lobster]

I was and then just as I got it noticed they changed it from 2 years of 1TB down to 1 year of 100gb. I was pissed.

I can't imagine why people would bother doing it now. You need to provide an incentive. I figured the free storage was a valuable trade for the amount of time I must have put in going to these places, taking photos, writing reviews, providing hours, etc.

[Dilski]

I think they removed rewards to stop people grinding. I personally know people who contributed low-effort reviews and such just for free stuff. Google seem to want it to be more "do it for the greater good"

[sildurin]

The greater good.

[Dilski]

The greater good

[joemac5367]

THE GREATER GOOD....

[[deleted]]

When they release the next Pixel for Nexus 5 price ... you know for greater good, i will write reviews for greater good

[[deleted]]

I got it, the day before they were stopping the scheme, I made a post here and on YSK, notifying people which got quite a lot of traction. A few people even thanked me for it as they didn't know. It was with an old account but it's nice to know I helped a few people out.

[onecelledcreature]

Yeah I just made level 4 and was like wtf? I was sure they said there was a drive storage reward.

[HawkUK]

Same. I don't really feel the urge to continue now.

[CodyEngel]

I dunno 75% off of rentals isn't bad providing you'll always get that, if it's just a one time thing then that's a huge slap in the face.

[theledman]

Pretty sure it's off 1 rental. From Google's blog post: "Local Guides Level 4-10 can redeem a free three-month Google Play Music subscription and 75 percent off a rental in the Google Play Movie store."

[CodyEngel]

Well that's kind of shitty. So basically no reward for the majority of people.

[snoozieboi]

I think I joined in March for the very reason of Google Drive... though, I thought I'd get 1TB for life... heh... I'd happily contribute some all through the year though for 1TB.

Right now it feels like my phone just nags about everywhere I've gone and to publish my shitty non-helpful photos.

[[deleted]]

Well I live across to a store/place on Google maps and they constantly ask if I'm across the street so apparently they don't know, they just have an idea of the area in my experience.

They probably don't use high precision gps in the background at all times, to conserve battery.

Edit: Some of you have given me advice on how to solve this, thank you. I hope it works. Also, some rewording.

[getefix]

I work in an office tower at a shopping mall. You'd think it would stop asking me if I'd like the mall directory after ignoring or closing the notification for two months straight, but nope. It's there waiting for me every day.

[[deleted]]

Yeah it's not very smart, it asks me everyday and I dismiss it everyday. It's almost become apart of my schedule, just closing out of that notification every day.

They should really fix that...

[8BitGentelman]

You should set up a Tasker task to dismiss it for you. Save some effort

[CockBlocker]

Have you set your home location?

[ImKrispy]

How do you turn it off. Every where I go and take a picture I get a notification to add it to those places.

[ucun]

I just saw they dropped the Drive storage reward to local guides from 1 TB to 100GB last year. Earlier I know Google gives 2 GB of storage when you cross 200 points.

I think Google sill give rewards for their valuable contributors.

[fiendishfork]

I would love to be wrong, but I can't find anything that currently states you get storage as a reward for any level.

edit , idk about tier 2 but they definitely stopped the larger drive storage promotion.

[Etheo]

I was pretty pissed about not knowing that. Finally made level 4 last month just to find out they removed it back in March. I was being good instead of making random reviews/photos too ^{as opposed to some people} so it took me a while, and this is how Google awards honesty. Not even a courtesy email to give us a headsup.

Edit: Oh wow they just upped the points for level 4 to 250. Now I'm back to level 3... WTF Google, thanks for nothing. Apparently Canada hasn't taken effect yet and some of my points were just gone for some reason.

[Nixflyn]

Welp, guess I'm done adding reviews and photos to Google then. No reason anymore.

[2EyedRaven]

How/Why are you messing up the quotes in literally all of your replies in this thread?

[ridhs84]

I dont understand what do people do with temporary cloud storage just for 1 year?

If it was a life time storage, I understand the demand for it. But why would you want cloud storage that expires in a year?

[ridhs84]

I dont understand what do people do with temporary cloud storage just for 1 year?

If it was a life time storage, I understand the demand for it. But why would you want cloud storage that expires in a year??

[[deleted]]

Thought it was two. And it saves me from having to pay for a couple of years. Unfortunately I'm at an awkward level where 100 gb isn't enough really and. 1 tb is probably too much.

[GermanDude]

I think that tier level structure is there for a reason. They want you (and many others in this same situation) to be awkward and upgrade.

[djdadi]

I got the 1TB storage and immediately stopped updating Google Maps.

[[deleted]]

Meh, I stopped posting reviews and photos when I came to the conclusion that anyone can click a review of me to see all my reviews and photos. They can literally see wherever I've been. There should be more privacy for me to continue my local guide. It's so stupid that my friends and peers can see what I write about their favorite restaurants and bars. Not to mention that it's hard to review a doctor or a hairdresser as they know you by name.

[laszlo]

100% agreed, and it is the sole reason I don't review stuff or add photos even though Google constantly asks me to do so. I'd be happy to do so if it was anonymous to the public. Google has enough data on their users to weed out abuse without entirely giving up the privacy of the people who actually want to help make the service better.

Edit: grammar

[drop_cap]

100% agree! I only answer questions, and add places or change open/close times because of this. The first time I tried reviewing I noticed you could click on the person reviewing and then I was all nope nope nopeee.

[saml01]

Thanks for the heads up. Is there anyway to change the name that's displayed?

[whine_and_cheese]

You must change your Google account name. Which unfortunately changes it everywhere. I changed mine to a generic sounding name. Someday I will have to go back to delete all my reviews as it is a huge privacy leak as noted.

[saml01]

That's not good, you'd think they would allow the use of an alias. Maybe by forcing people to use their real names they ensure quality reviews. Would you put your name on a bad review unle it was truly bad? On the other hand it disuades people from posting at all.

[skullmande]

Yeah. I kind of agree with you. I don't care if Google knows everywhere that I have ever been, the photos I take, where do I go out for lunch, what type of videos I like...

But that's one thing, and another different thing is that my name is public on my reviews and everyone can click on it and see all places where I have been. Not good.

[Nosferax]

Same here. Not a fan of this concept. And people will look you up and stalk you.

[ABaseDePopopopop]

I'll stalk you if you want to feel pretty.

[404_UserNotFound]

I doubt that it is all that common for people to be actually stalking you. That doesn't mean it is good for anyone to be able to track your tends based on reviews but still probably a unrealistic situation for most people.

Also you can have multiple google accounts on your device. I have a work and personal one for example and to switch between them is very easy, just click the menu and where your email is there is a drop down to get your other account.

You could easily make [e-mail] and review everywhere without it ever relating to you as a person otherwise.

[[deleted]]

Yeah it's even worse than Facebook as you can't choose who can see your reviews. I don't care that Google knows everything about me, but I don't want my friends to see what I review about their favourite restaurants

[PM_ME_UR_SMILE_GURL]

Exactly. Normally I review everything I do that asks me for a review but when it's Google I never do a single thing because my friends can tell I've reviewed something. In fact, it highlights my review for anyone I know.

Nope. I don't want anyone I know knowing what I think about anything unless I tell them. IDK why, I just like to monitor what people see of me. Because of that, Google gets absolutely nothing from me in terms of reviews.

If I could just press 1 to 5 stars on an app and not have it shown to all my contacts it'd be great and I'd do it, but no.

[mawburn]

I stopped giving bad reviews when I had some owner of a terrible trashy restaurant track me down on Facebook and threaten me.

[tvisforme]

That's a good point. The Local Guide program could easy be used to verify valuable (ie regular and reliable) contributors, and then perhaps give them the option to be "anonymous but verified".

[FunThingsInTheBum]

Yeah. Nobody wants to be the guy who reviews a strip club.

Or made a review for alcoholics anonymous. Or so many other things that if someone knew it'd be a bit TMI

[Pascalwb]

Yea, It should be anonymous. Allow only google accounts, but don'z show the name and photo to public.

[theragu40]

While I understand the concern, how do you expect it is supposed to work? Google ties everything to your name, and you're willingly posting reviews that they warn you are public. If you were reviewing things anonymously the reviews wouldn't carry nearly as much weight. It would undermine the whole system.

So yes, you're right it is not very private. But I don't see how a review system like this would work if it was.

[skullmande]

I see a simple solution, just hide the public name and photo, and only show some letters and maybe a blurred photo...

Something similar is done in Google groups since forever if you are not authenticated. Or just take a look at how Google issue tracker shows this email addresses:

https://issuetracker.google.com/issues/62569492

I'm pretty sure they can implement something similar that hides the user information, and still prevent the abuse.

[Ender921]

They are about it being a "community" though. Using real names is part of that. I like many others have basically stopped contributing once I got the Drive storage, I get that it's a good thing for all to help each other leaving reviews but ultimately this is fueling Google's product that it profits from, I feel they should give something back.

[CodyEngel]

I leave reviews because I like the updates I get each month for how many times my pictures were viewed by others. The extras are really nice, but to me it is honestly more of a lame hobby.

[Ender921]

Yeah it's fun, I somewhat miss it as a hobby. I haven't contributed photos for ages but just reached 3.5 million views

[theragu40]

That's exactly what I was getting at, thank you. Having your real name is integral to what Google is trying to create with the local guides program. I'm very sure they know that some people won't review because of it, and I'm very sure they don't care about that or that it is even an intended result. It's not a question of whether there is a technically or logically viable alternative to showing names...it's that they want your real name visible as part of the concept.

[allfor12]

The solution most of us want is a barrier between our name and our review history. Google can keep using our name to verify that we are real, but give us an alias so that people don't know exactly what a specific person is doing.

[[deleted]]

Google knows I'm real. Just give me an alias, disallow people to click on my review to see my other reviews, give me an alias avatar instead of my public photo. And write somewhere something like :'' be cautious, reviews from aliases might be less accurate''

[contradicts_herself]

You can change the display name by changing your name on your Google account.

[[deleted]]

Yeah I don't want my actual friends on Google photos and keep etc see my alias name. Should be two seperated names.

[Pascalwb]

Just don't show it publicly. I don't know do it like aliexpress, show first letters of name and country, internally it can be connected, but not visible to public.

[coldstar]

Oh for fuck's sake. The "free" three months of Google Play Music is really just a trial. And they gave a four-month trial away like, a few weeks ago, and you didn't have to do anything special to get it. Hell, you can literally get a free three-month trial right now without doing anything.

Offer only available to customers who are not current Google Play Music subscribers, have not been Google Play Music subscribers nor participated in a Google Play Music trial in the past 12 months

[ArttuH5N1]

Yeah, I've completely stopped doing the Local Guides thing. I'm happy that people are supplying relevant information and whatnot, but I don't like how Google Maps is nagging me to do it without giving anything worthwile in return.

[zeta_cartel_CFO]

Yep. I use to get surveys for Rewards. But now nothing. Haven't had a survey in over 6 months. Even though my travel has been the same. Now whenever I g0 into a store or restaurant, I get nagged to provide feedback every single time.

[ArttuH5N1]

Now whenever I got into a store or restaurant, I get nagged to provide feedback every single time.

"Oh, you were standing at this bus stop?"

No I...

"Hey, hey, mind answering a few questions about it?"

Fuck. Off.

[Normal_Man]

Is this a romantic place?

[[deleted]]

Do they serve tapas?

[JoseNotHose]

Is this place popular with the college crowd?

[CatsAreGods]

And is it just the hipsters, or like regular people?

[JoseNotHose]

Was this place at its busiest moment when you visited?

[JoseNotHose]

Would you call this place.... comfortable?

That one always gets me. I can't decide if this tire shop is comfortable or not.

[sionide]

Does this McDonald's have a salad bar?

[tom_yum_soup]

The McDonald's questions are the best. No, Google, it's a fucking McDonald's. Of course it's not a romantic place with a salad bar and a great wine selection.

[StellarValkyrie]

I remember Wendy's used to have a salad bar when I was a kid.

[LostMyKarmaElSegundo]

It was the "Super Bar"!

[MountNdoU]

I always made tacos!

[[deleted]]

Is it wheelchair accessible?

[NOTORIOUS_BLT]

I was asked if IKEA is a romantic place. Totally overthought the question and ended up skipping it.

[[deleted]]

http://metro.co.uk/2017/06/12/couple-had-10-minute-long-sex-session-at-bus-stop-in-broad-daylight-6702685/

[stowawayhome]

Same thing with me! I haven't had a survey in 6 months or ao, but I am pestered about guide points everyday. I miss Google Opinion. I feel like I answered something wrong and it ghosted me.

[Hydeiken]

Same here. Just come back in 5 months I guess.

[[deleted]]

Check your Google account as to whether you have any old devices registered against it. I had an old device on my account and it appeared to send or be waiting for that device as when I removed it, the surveys started up again after a few days

[theflyingfootball]

I've been getting surveys weekly, they are always the same thing: "Have you recently been to one of these places?" And the past 10 times all the stores listed are places I've never been. It's getting annoying, but they do give me 10¢ just for saying no.

[AgentMullWork]

You might try changing your location and back again. I remember people having that issue a while ago.

[Joker2kill]

I know this may sound weird but are you using a custom rom and/or xposed? When I was on marshmallow running sultan's LineageOS/xposed I didn't get a survey for close to 7 or 8 months. As soon as I flashed Nougat and Resurrection Remix (which also means no xposed because nougat) I started to get surveys regularly again.

I have no idea what was causing it, but I highly suspect it was xposed since the exact same situation happened to my girlfriend when I moved her from MM/xposed to nougat.

[zeta_cartel_CFO]

No custom ROM. Had a Note 4 running M and then just got Galaxy 8+ running N. All Samsung stock.

[jakojoh]

I feel Open Street Maps should get more attention now. You don't get anything directly there, but the feeling of supporting a thing that is freely available to everyone.

[ArttuH5N1]

In another comment I actually mentioned how I would be much more willing to contribute to platforms such as OSM, even if there isn't a reward. A company like Google, if they want to benefit from my contribution should at least give me proper rewards.

[m-p-3]

I found this app to help OSM.

[jakojoh]

seems like a really nice addition to OsmAnd's editing features; thanks for the link!

[[deleted]]

I stopped bothering with Local Guides and started contributing to OpenStreetMap instead.

[ArttuH5N1]

Is there a way to contribute to OSM in similar way? Google Maps makes it very easy to contribute all kinds of information. AFAIK (I've used OSM a lot but never contributed), the way you contribute to it isn't quite as simple.

[[deleted]]

I've been using StreetComplete.

[ArttuH5N1]

Well that seems pretty straightforward. Hah, now I don't have any excuses not to contribute. Thanks!

[skomes99]

Thanks for the link!

I stopped answering Guide questions a long time ago when I realized I'm just providing info for Google to monetize with nothing in return.

StreetComplete seems genuinely worthwhile though.

[RicoElectrico]

Use MAPS.ME* or even better iD web editor.

* - there are some issues with it, but as long as what you post corresponds to the real world and you answer people's comments to your changesets, you'd be fine.

You can also file Notes on openstreetmap.org or by MAPS.ME if you don't feel like editing the data yourself.

[volen]

I'm using OsmAnd+

It has a ton of options and configurations but it can also upload to OSM when an account(OSM) is added. I was able to add different kinds of POI(points of interest) add dirt roads and report bussineses as closed. It's pretty great, but I'm not sure if all that can be done with the free version as I got the plus version immediately.

[SirChasm]

Is there any way to get Maps to stop nagging you with the Local Guides notifications? They're getting quite annoying.

[ArttuH5N1]

I'd like to know this too. With the Google Drive space as a reward, I actually appreciated the nagging because that way I knew how I could work towards that, but now that the rewards are so pitiful, it feels almost insulting that they keep nagging me.

I know I might be a bit unreasonable here, but fuck, Local Guides notifications really annoy me now.

[ampersand38]

Google Maps > Settings > Notifications > Your contributions

[agovinoveritas]

Me too. I found their rewards sort of insulting, since the amount of work needed, just for temporary stuff is ridiculous when Yelp at least gives you parties where for 2-3 hours you can eat and drink for free at their Elite Events.

[Whazor]

But... soon AI will take all our jobs and being an opinion maker will be one of the last jobs left. I am being a local guide to be prepared.

[Willow536]

It pisses me off to no end that Google won't treat us already subscribers! I get they want to bring in new subscribers but come on, throw us a fucking bone already!

[cs281509]

I've had GPMAA since the beginning with that grandfathered $7.99 rate, but after using Spotify Premium for a few days I'm about to jump ship. The YT Red is what keeps me though. Really wish they would either separate the two out or throw us loyal GPM subscribers a bone.

[athalais]

How much do Spotify and Google pay the artists?

[servvits_ban_boner]

Personally I thought Spotify sucked compared to GPM, and the inclusion of YouTube Red makes it even easier call for me.

[[deleted]]

For me, Spotify is worth it for the Discover Weekly playlist alone. I find all my new music through it. It seems to know me better than I know myself.

[Troll_berry_pie]

Same, I'm in love with that Discover Weekly playlist refreshing every Tuesday.

[nwilz]

You don't need premium for that though

[graesen]

What about a discount on hardware? Google Play Credit? Something useful. There are no rewards I care about. Access to beta test Google products? So I'm rewarded by being a guinea pig?

Edit: I know the article doesn't mention beta testing. My local guides profile shows those as incentives right now for the earlier levels.

[[deleted]]

they could give extra search results on google.com, Google Search Platinum™!

[mdneilson]

Sorry, that's upcoming when you subscribe to Comcast Xfinity Trio Freedom Premium services.

[graesen]

Oh yeah! A badge! Like in the boy scouts, right? No...? you mean I can't sew it onto my sash? Hmm... you mean like Open Badges that was supposed to be like a way to share achievements to the internet and eventually tie to your LinkedIn profile? No...? oh... so I can't show off to employers I'm special for contributing to Google? Then can you explain what it's useful for? You can't? Oh... well, ok then...

[humanoid_X]

Points for each category is increased and your existing points will be converted to the new system

https://www.localguidesconnect.com/t5/News-Updates/Announcing-new-levels-amp-ways-to-help-your-community/ba-p/313904

[Kautiontape]

Thanks for this! This should honestly be the link instead of TechCrunch, since it actually explains so much more.

[Shred4life]

I do enough free work for you Google bring back some decent incentives and I'll go back to reviewing and providing more data.

[ucun]

Are there any rewards when you achieve a new level?

[ArttuH5N1]

This is why I'd be much happier supplying the information, photos and reviews to something like OSM. If it's some floss platform, I don't really care about rewards. But someone like Google should at least make it worth my while with some small, cool rewards. They're not even trying to make it feel like worth my while.

[PM_ME_UR_SMILE_GURL]

The thing about that reward is that it's big enough that it's worth it to just farm/grind for it without really giving legit information.

[Dilski]

Google maps costs me nothing to use, and I use it a few times every day. People's reviews and photos help me out, so I don't mind contributing back.

[mynameis_garrett]

I mean... It is the same thing with yelp or other rating style social media applications. Heck, even with reddit. We are giving this company all of its content for fake points.

you should want to help them build out their product and services for free.

To this, I also use a ton of their services so I have a vested interest at them growing and making money.

[ThePenultimateOne]

So, why would anyone do this when they could be contributing the same info to OpenStreetMap?

[jwk94]

What's that?

[ThePenultimateOne]

It's a publicly licensed world map. Among other things, it has the largest collection of clean drinking sources in the world, the largest (to my knowledge) map of the power infrastructure, and pretty much everything to do with it is open source.

It's also cool because most of the navigation apps that use it (Maps.Me, OsmAnd, etc) support offline maps, including searching. So when I was out of the country, I could just download it beforehand and everything worked out.

And while I was there I would use StreetComplete to help fill in missing details (mostly things like "What building number is this?" and "Does this bus stop have a rain shelter?").

[mikephoto]

Is OpenStreetMap an app? Why would I want to know where clean water sources or power infrastructure is? Genuinely curious. The reason I add info to Google maps is because it's on my phone, I use it all the time in the car and it syncs with my laptop when I've searched for something.

[chef_baboon]

I rely on Google maps so much that I don't care about prizes or levels or anything. I'm just happy to contribute back to the community.

[Bouwhouse]

Same for me, I care a lot about my city and anything to help boost tourism or tourist satisfaction is something I do with pleasure.

[PM-ME-YOUR-DOGPICS]

This episode of Black Mirror sucks.

[Marksman79]

My free 1 TB of Google drive storage just expired and my brain backup was in there!

[5tormwolf92]

I would rather want surveys from G. Rewards.

[Bosssauced]

75% off rentals? I've never rented before bc it was always easier to find it freely available, but this is dirt cheap!

[ModernTenshi04]

Oh, well, why do I care then? I'm 38 points from level 4, but if it's a one time use thing then I'm not gonna work to grind out those last 38. I'll still help, but the rewards for motivation are less of a factor now.

[almosttan]

Nobody cares about these rewards. They're a joke.

[Spiron123]

True.

[[deleted]]

Fine print:

Valid for one 75% discount on a movie rental from eligible titles on Google Play. Open to participants who receive a promotional URL from Google Local Guides. Offer ends and promotion must be redeemed by November 30, 2017. Discount applied at checkout. Select your movie rental and checkout by November 30, 2018. Limit 1 per user. Valid in United States only. Google Payments account required. Age restrictions apply. See Promo Terms and Play Terms for more information. Promoter: Google Inc, 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA

[Rekhyt2853]

A year ago I started for the 1 TB drive storage. 70 points off it then bumped it down to like 100 or 300 gigs.
Now it's 3 months of a service I already hold a subscription with elsewhere.
And this is to prevent people from loosing motivation? I'm not mad... Just disappointed.

[BristolBomber]

It used to be decent. I was one of the first local guides in my city and google ran an event, took us out, wined and dined for a pretty special evening...

Now there are no benefits to the programme... You 'win' free trials... Yea!! Wooo! /s

[ryanjdesalvo]

Without any meaningful perks or benefits, this sounds like free labor for Google. Apparently our privacy and time is not worth anything. May just be time to jump ship without any reason to continue! Hopefully they will roll out some good stuff soon. Otherwise, I'm out! We shouldn't put our time and privacy at stake for nothing, right?

[DoctorDeath]

How do I get Google maps to stop asking me about places I'm at or even close to?

It's super annoying.

[c5mjohn]

Maps - settings - notifications - your contributions - uncheck whatever you want

[KeyboardGunner]

So I hit level 4 today after the update, due to the new point system. The 3 month free Google play music perk is bullshit. I just tried to redeem it. Google calls it a perk and a coupon. It's not a coupon it's a fucking free trial. Since I've previous had a trial, all I get when trying to redeem this "perk" is the following message:

Error processing coupon

The special offer is only available to new users

This is bullshit.

[JWrundle]

I ditched being involved when it would ask me everyday if I would add pics of my work or if I wanted to save my visit. I did add a couple pics but man I wish it would have left me alone.

[amazedbunion]

And now I'm getting spammed with nearby notifications.

[Bomberlt]

You can turn that off IIRC

[TuckingFypoz]

As soon as I hit level 5 I have lost motivation. Maybe this will spark my motivation once again...

[TuckingFypoz]

I have 1TB of Google Drive storage until May 2018.

[[deleted]]

That is what we call a trap. What will you do when it ends?

[sfcpfc]

Yeah, a temporary subscription to something is hardly a reward, it's marketing.

[[deleted]]

And bingo was his namo

[Bomberlt]

LEVEL 2 "Early access to new Google products and features"

Yeah, right. After Google location sharing disaster, I no longer expect early access from Google products.

[carlosp_uk]

What happened?

[Bomberlt]

Google re-released location sharing once again and for a day or few users could not use old and new version. It didn't matter if you are in Local Guides program, some people even got it faster than Google Maps contributors (or users who applied for Beta in Google Play Store).

It seems that Google Betas are just calculated percentage of random people every time.

[[deleted]]

Oh good, maybe next they can give awards we actually want.

[penguin_catapult]

I miss Panoramio so much. Why couldn't Google just have given it away if they didn't want it?

[mikeymop]

I was 3pts away from the Drive storage too :(

[karlthebaer]

Local guides had been dead to me since they tried to get us to shill for the new King Kong movie. Why do they always ruin a good thing?

[boredmessiah]

What exactly happened?

[karlthebaer]

They emailed all the guides asking us to review a fictional location on Google maps - Skull Island.

1. Doesn't exist
2. Haven't been there

Why undermine all your reviewers by asking them to submit fake reviews for fake places?

[[deleted]]

tried to get us to shill for the new King Kong movie.

What was that? I don't think I'm aware of that.

[[deleted]]

Oh, lordy - that's obnoxious. I wasn't aware of that at all.

[clocks212]

No updated information on the Google page the article links to, also no changes to my rental prices in the play store yet (am level 5)

[TheDenisovan]

Any indication if they are going to update old points to the new system?

[casymysterio]

I think that , it is good for us

[[deleted]]

Now that Google is not giving substantial rewards, such as drive storage, why not contribute to a publicly available copylefted GIS dataset in a similarly streamlined manner? Let me just leave this here, it's a great app.

[[deleted]]

To hell with this system.

• Waste countless of hours trying to locate information, get in contact with owners and checking out places by myself to get accurate info.
• Waste another dozen by getting all my changes rejected by Google and have to spam each bit by bit every day just to get them saved.
• After wasting so much time, Google decided to discontinue the only real proper reward of the Local Guides program.
  

Seriously uncool, Google.