Google will be shutting down Google Map Maker, a service that allowed users to edit information and suggest changes in Google Maps.
The support page of Map Maker states the service will be retired in March 2017. The standalone tool will now be fully integrated into Google Maps. Google Map Maker was launched in 2008 and allowed users to add roads, rivers, green spaces and local businesses. Not only can one add a place, but also edit info and moderate the edits.
If you recall, in May Google did shut down the service briefly after an image of the Android robot urinating on an Apple logo was discovered on Google Maps. Again in August it was relaunched with more attention on edits being made by the public.
“Map Maker will be reopened for editing in early August, and we’re looking for users to now have more influence over the outcome of edits in their specific countries,” product manager Pavithra Kanakarajan had written in a blog post.
“This means that edits on Map Maker will be increasingly made open for moderation by the community… This has been a request you’ve made for a very long time, and this change should, hopefully, come as good news.”
Increasing moderation and spam might have contributed to Google’s decision to retire the Map Maker. “This update will enable us to focus on providing the best editing and moderation experience within Google Maps on both desktop and on mobile,” the Map Maker team wrote on the product forum.
“Starting today, edits made on Google Maps will no longer be available for moderation on Map Maker. This will allow us to streamline our efforts, speeding up the time for an edit to get published.”
If you are a fan of Map Maker, then you will be glad to know the features will soon be migrated to the main Google Maps app as part of the company’s Local Guides Program.
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