How to Handle a situation where people think you are a spy

[AmbrishVarshney]

Hello, Local Guides @TiffanyBnyc 

I will tell you how to avoid situations where people think you are a spy in this post.
Some days ago, someone posted a video on the Delhi Local Guide Chapter Group of some people beating up some Local Guides because they took pictures of the shop and thought they were spying.  

First Please see this video.

* This video in Hindi where people think LGs are SPY and as they don't have any authorization letter from google or local guide program people think LGs are SPYING 

The solution to avoid these kinds of problems.
As an old Lgs, I have some solutions to avoid these kinds of situations 
1)- Educate all New Lgs about always taking permission from the shop owner before taking pictures. 
2)- show local guide badges and your contributions to people who want any kind of authorization.
3)- if still, they don't agreed on smiply tell them ok I will not take any picture of your store.
4)- Local Guide Program can add a message in badges that LGs are taking pictures for improving google maps.* 

* here I am clearly saying google is not responsible for any auction by this local guide.  

Tagging Some Senior Lgs for their suggestions 
@TravellerG @KashifMisidia @NareshDarji @Anil6969 @Shrut19 

[TravellerG]

Hello very dear, our @AmbrishVarshney Ji...

Sincerely appreciate your efforts to publish this valuable post.

Yes, you are right - in the beginning, I too have faced suspecious looks & comments from a very few owners.

Later, I too practiced to explain the shop/enterprise owners about the importance of Google Maps reviews and also used to brief them about the benefits of Google Business Profile (old GMB).

ALL THE STEPS you have explained are perfect - I hope our new gen LGs will note these points, which will surely help them to avoid embarrassing situations... 

Note:

Hello Ambrish Ji - in this video the persons were doing it for money making, which is surely against the policy... right? 

PS :

Thanks for tagging me in your post. 

Regards 

🤝💐

[AmbrishVarshney]

@TravellerG Sir lots of people start local guide programs via seeing youtube videos where people claim you will get money via google maps and that why my 1st suggestion is to educate these new lgs

[TravellerG]

That I fully agree with you...

Some of the YouTube videos are really misguiding and dangerous.

Thanks for your kind response, dear @AmbrishVarshney Ji.

🤝♥️💐

[MortenCopenhagen]

Hi @AmbrishVarshney

It is culturally very strange to me to see people beat each other and pull ears. This just not normal here.

That said, I think your recommendations could benefit from also sharing some suggestions on how to phrase good questions when asking businesses for permission to take photos. 

How about:

Would you like me to take some nice/great photos of your shop and share them on Google Maps? It is free, and the photos will be available globally and might help you attract new customers. Or help new customers find your shop. 

May I also suggest that you share some examples of how to formulate helpful sentences to include in your profile text on Google Maps. You are welcome to check out my profile text. 

I hope something can be done about false information in India the mislead LGs to think they will be paid or are entitled to perks. Many requests for perks here on Connect are from India in my experience. 

Cheers and thanks for sharing this. 

Morten 

[AmbrishVarshney]

Hi @MortenCopenhagen 

People beat Lgs because they think they are spies of rival countries.  for me I always talk to the business owner about their google maps listing and clearly tell them that is totally free. 

Regarding My Profile Text: So Here is it "Hey Guys, I Am Ambrish Varshney, An IT Entrepreneur, Google Product Expert, Trusted Photographer, and Social Media Influencer"

regarding false information in India and misleading LGs if the Local Guide Program Administration gives strike to these kinds of channel for misleading youth and promote more Indian LGs for Educating and Influence these new Lgs that can be great help. i am saying this because we have a huge number of Lgs in India and we can't educate all without the help of the Administration.

[ErmesT]

@AmbrishVarshney ,How not to agree with you and @TravellerG ?

Educating people, and explaining to the new Local Guides the scope of the program can help a lot. I still reporting unsuccessfully all that videos that are sharing fake information about earning money 😞

My usual approach is to Ask First, showing my LG profile in the App, and how many views my photos of the storefront have. After that, if a business do not want to have a photo, well, it is his problem, not mine.

However a lot of bad photos in Maps have contributed to creating a bad reputation for the Local Guides program, and in my opinion Google should be much more severe in removing bad quality contributions, and blocking the possibility for those who make them to add further contributions

[AmbrishVarshney]

@ErmesT i am not able to understand where you did not agree with me. i am saying same which you write in your reply.
1)- I am talking about educating the new LGs
2)- I am talking about these fake videos
3)- I am having the same approach I always talk business owner before contribution 

Regarding "Google should be much more severe in removing bad quality contributions, and blocking the possibility for those who make them to add further contributions" in this post I am not talking about good or bad contributions here I am talking about Lgs Beaten up for taking photos and video we can help them.

[ErmesT]

Oops, @AmbrishVarshney , sorry for the typo, now fixed.

How not to agree with you? Is what I wanted to write.

Of course we should help them, and educating them about the correct approach is the best, if not the only way, to help them to understand that Maps is a useful tool, and not a way to gain Followers and Likes. I am talking about good and bad contributions only because this is what can make the difference in the approach with a business owner. You says "show local guide badges and your contributions to people who want any kind of authorization", and I fully agree but, what if the contributions are a long series of selfies. This is not your case, nor mine, but I have seen so many selfies and inappropriate contents in Maps. I am sure that some business think that this is what a Local Guide do.

Just spend a few minutes to check the profile of the long series of Local Guides that are writing here and in the First Post ask about:

• Perks
• Getting Paid

Most of them mention "valuable contents" and "spending a lot of time for contributing"

Businesses should trust us (Local Guides) but how can they do it if they receive such contributions? And the victims are other Local Guides who are Beaten (that's crazy) just because they don't have the right approach.

Sorry again about the typo

[AdamGT]

I totally agree with the thrust of your post @AmbrishVarshney and the comments made by others here. It boils down to education.  Regarding your 4th point, I would add that LGs are taking pictures for promoting the business through Google Maps by for example, improving it's visibility and making it easier to be located via Google Maps and the other Google services on which the photo will appear!   Finally, you might be interested in my post Local Guides' bad experiences!.