My favourite Google product and why
Like many people, I have a love/hate relationship with Google. However, I must admit that there is one product of them that I really like and at the same time miss a lot in this COVID times: Google Maps & it’s feature Local Guides. Local Guides is such a huge platform, that some may say that they are co-related products.
Google Maps is the main product, with an amazing search engine for places and maps, routes, public transportation, live location, and so on. It is by itself a product that we are so dependant that it is hard to imagine our lives if we didn’t have it (remember looking for an address at the telephone directory?).
Local Guides is a feature inside Google Maps, where you can contribute to the content inside Google Maps. You can add photos of a restaurant, it’s menu, the food, make a comment about it, rate the place, and so on. If I could call it a product, it would be my favourite one. Here are some interesting features related to Local Guides:
1. Gamification with levels and points
For me, the coolest part of Local Guides is the gamification it has. You have different levels inside the programme. I found out about Local Guides last year thanks to my boyfriend, and after some contributions, I achieved level 5 and have 680 points. I already posted 54 pictures, gave 43 answers, 24 commentaries. I can check my level directly on my Local Guide Profile: https://maps.google.com/localguides/home.
2. Data analytics
Every month I receive an e-mail with a monthly report. On February, for example, my photos had more than 1,4 thousand visualizations and I helped more than 124 people with my answers. And if I check my profile right now, I can see which photo has more views and the total views of my pics. I was shocked to see that only one photo has had more than 7 thousand views so far!
3. Meet Local Guides
I have never used this one, but I think it may be useful for people that are travelling alone. It is designed to explore cities, make friends, get to know new places. I checked what are the things that people do together, and found some interesting things, like going for a walk on the beach to take photos. As the community really likes taking pictures, they can gather and do things that are interesting for them. There are some other platforms that offer a similar experience, so I am not sure if this feature is being used in its full potential. There is where you discover events for things you love, and even Airbnb has a feature that is called Experiences. It is a similar proposal, but they charge for the experience with local hosts.
4. Connect
To complete the sense of belonging, Local Guides has Connect: a forum and blog created for the local guides community. The intention is to trade tips and ideas, as well as hear from Googlers. Google maps heavy users must be a big fan of this feature.
5. Active Social Media
One interesting thing is that Local Guides has its own social media. You can find them on Instagram, Facebook, Youtube and Twitter. Local Guides create content about photo tips, best photos, heavy users interviews and some other tips. They not only exhibit their best contributors but also help the community to create better content.
The crazy thing is that Local Guides is a way of gathering this massive community that loves to share experiences about places, and it is this massive content that they produce that feeds Google Maps experience. For free. People that engage in this kind of contribution are not paid for uploading pictures or writing reviews. And people that access this content in Google Maps does not pay for reading the reviews as well.
Either way, I just love engaging and thinking that my picture helped someone else on their decision. As simple as it can be. And that is why I just love how Google Local Guides connect people and places to provide that.
Originally published at https://beatrizrcunha.wixsite.com on July 16, 2020.
