Google Map Maker is returning and you can be a vandalism narc

This was a change requested frequently by Map Makers as oftentimes valid edits would be denied by the Google operators, largely because they didn’t have first hand knowledge of specific areas and were often in another country or continent altogether.

Google subsequently shut down Map Maker, the tool the company used to crowdsource the improvement of its mapping products (and the same one through which these defacement edits were submitted), on May 12th to “take a pause” until “we have our moderation system back in action”. Google employees will “occasionally” moderate edits, but she doesn’t specify exactly when.

We will be selecting mappers in each region and offering them the opportunity to become a “Regional Lead” on Map Maker. “This means that edits on Map Maker will be increasingly made open for moderation by the community”.

In order to combat the pranks Google is now handing power to users to act as moderators when the tool comes back online next month. The editors showed real ownership for regional maps.

Now, the Web giant is planning to lean on its users for help.

➤ Map Maker reopening in early August [Google Blog]. Regional Lead candidates will receive an invitation to apply for the role.

You may recall the prank on Google Maps in April that displayed an Android bot urinating on the Apple logo in Pakistan after someone managed to get around the Map Maker approval process. While some edits will still require moderation by Google operators, our loyal users will recognize that this is a departure from how we have operated in the past where majority of your edits were reviewed by Google operators. “We fully intend to grow the number of users who will be able to moderate in each country to address this issue over time”.