Because you love sharing!
The main reason you might want to become a Local Guide is that you love sharing information about places you’ve been to. If you always wanted to be a tour guide but another career got in the way, this is definitely for you. Love a dish at a restaurant and can’t tell enough people about? This is for you. Got a secret spot that has the best view of the sun setting over the Taj Mahal? Share it on Google! Or just make sure that people are having the best experience they can while avoiding the not-so-good ones then the life of a Google Local Guide is for you.
There are also incentives, levels and badges to unlock, and a certain status that comes with the title Local Guide on any reviews you leave. For every star rating, written review and photos you contribute, you earn points that carry you through the different levels of the Local Guide program.
Local Guides contribute content on Maps because it helps both people and businesses in their communities. Local Guides help to keep Maps listings up-to-date and make businesses credible in the eyes of customers.
Here are some of the main ways Local Guides help make the Maps experience better:
- Reviews and Q&A: To help customers get to know businesses better, Local Guides write reviews and answer questions about the places they’ve visited. They share their experience, and may also include tips or additional information not easily found elsewhere. Customers rely heavily on reviews when they select a business, so the more reviews, the better.
- Photos and videos: To showcase businesses from a customer’s perspective, Local Guides upload photos and videos. They may also highlight specific details of the business (e.g. a great dish to try, interesting products, or accessibility features).
- Note: Photos are labelled to differentiate between photos added by the business versus photos added by Local Guides or customers.
- Accurate information: Local Guides help keep businesses’ information up-to-date (e.g. hours of operation, phone number, website, and more). They also help to report spam, like inappropriate reviews or photos, or duplicate listings.
For more on Google Local Guides, check out our blog on Becoming A Google Local Guide.