I was uploading images to Google Maps before that anyway, and if I recall signed up for it, it's just a point meter.

Google then sends you a summary of how your contributions were doing. Recently they send me some E-Mail to the effect of "Awesome! Your image on <business name> has been viewed 100 thousand times!" or something like that.

It entirely turned me off the whole thing and I haven't contributed since. I thought "why am I contributing to this ad-powered product that they're monetizing for millions, for free?".

It's kind of hilarious really. If you look at their landing page the benefits you can gain include things like "...and you can also moderate our forums, for us, for free!": https://www.google.com/local/guides/benefits/

Yay!

I believe the idea is the motivate you to contribute further by proving that your edit made a difference. How does your edit being viewed 100 thousand times makes you less interested in contributing? Would you rather contribute to a product nobody uses?

> I thought "why am I contributing to this ad-powered product that they're monetizing for millions, for free?"

You already knew Google Maps was monetized by ads, before making an edit.

I don't think it's fair to see this as free labor for Google. Your edits to Google Maps could be related to your own business. Or you might be helping your favorite local business to get more visibility and customers.

Perhaps it can also be seen as a contribution to your neighborhood.

Huh, there actually used to be a real benefit - free Drive storage upgrades once you hit a certain tier. Guess things got popular enough they ditched it.

(disclaimer: work on maps, nothing to do with guides tho)

I have been occasionally contributing to Google Maps and thought that I will get the Drive storage!

They never mentioned it in any of their emails, or the "newsletters" you get "access" to once you hit level 1.

Now, the grand reward (once you hit more than 500 points) is being a "trusted Google tester".

This is a joke and free work for Google. I will be contributing to OSM from now on.

Also they started pushing 'rate where you were' notifications way too much. Initially notifying when in maps app moved to ever increasing out of app notifications. That's when I stopped and turned if all maps notifications.

I might not be motivated by that now (I'm 35) but when I was in my 20s I found it incredibly exciting just to see something I made get used by other people. I think it's a natural desire.

Since then I've gotten a little obsessive about specific goals, so I'm less compelled by it, but I don't think that's an inevitable aspect of aging, it's just how my personality turned out.

> I thought "why am I contributing to this ad-powered product that they're monetizing for millions, for free?".

Can you show me a single ad on Google Maps?

Booking a place from the place entry is done via ads

yeah, the only real benefit for you is that their map doesn't suck. But the bad part is that they could still shut down or charge for the service at any time.

> it feels good to contribute.

I don't understand. Why does working for free for multi billion dollar corporation feel good?

Not the GP but I share the sentiment. I enjoy doing work that benefits others (in this case other map users), even if a third party stands to gain as well. I don't think of it as "working for": I understand the economics, but not all activities need be conceptualized as transactional.

Can't edit this so replying. If you want to feel good and like you are helping then work on a project with a free license like open street map.

i sort of agree... but on the other hand, at least they offer the "result" (Maps) for free. LinkedIn for example lets user pay to search for (some of) it's "users own" data! :(

Does that data go open source or are you paid for it?

Neither. But as I use Google Maps almost every day, I feel it's beneficial to both Google and me to improve the map quality.

Agreed. Even if its owned by Google.

No and no, although there is a points system with some meager benefits:

https://www.google.com/local/guides/benefits/