One of the most valuable things about Google Maps today is its community of users. A participatory community that enriches the ecosystem with their reviews, photos, and more data they contribute. And more than they are going to do it, in a few weeks any user will be able to change, add or remove streets and routes on Google Maps.
Google Maps will now allow any user to add streets, remove them, or correct errors
As announced by the company, they are adding some new features to Google Maps that will allow users to participate more and more easily in the construction of the platform. These changes come after the big batch of new features regarding COVID-19. Now, the most relevant of all is undoubtedly the possibility of modifying the streets of a map.
In those places that Google lacks information, that there is an error or temporary change, users will be able to alert about it. From the Google Maps road editor on a computer, it will be possible to edit a map to add for example a missing street. From there the user will simply have to draw the new street or route.
Users will also be able to modify a street if it does not follow the exact route. On the other hand, it will be possible to remove streets that have been closed, warn of a temporary change or even change the direction of the street. Of course, it is also possible to change the name of a street.
To prevent this freedom of modification from leading to misuse and harming other users, Google will verify every change. Therefore, this is rather a way for Google to find out about changes by not having the possibility to know everything that happens in every corner of the planet The user alerts the change and how it is while Google verifies and confirms it for other users.
Adding photos directly to a business or location
The other big change coming soon to Google Maps has to do with adding photos to the platform. Users can currently upload photos of businesses and venues as long as they leave a review and rating of the place as well. This will change shortly, Google will allow uploading photos without the need to leave a review.
Within the Updates tab on a location in Google Maps, a button will appear to upload photos without the need to leave a review. With this, users can upload recent photos of the location to let the rest of the community know what the location currently looks like. Business owners will also be able to do this to keep their customers updated.
