Last year in November, Google pronounced that they were planning to discontinue its Map Maker tool, which had been an integral part of Google Maps since 2008, allowing everyday users to contribute towards updating the Google Maps. Google could not have created the map of the world all by itself, therefore, it introduced this feature allowing users to correct or fill the missing map contents, such as roads, restaurants or business details. This feature was utterly important in developing areas which has no official detailed map of itself.
The company had previously announced that the tool will retire in March 2017, and as per the post on Google’s Help site for the service, Map Maker has officially been shut down on Friday, March 31, 2017.
In an announcement Google said they have edited and moderated millions of features to improve Google Maps. However, the Map Maker was sometimes a source of big trouble to Google. The crowd-sourced tool had may advantages at its end, but the very infamous case of Android character urinating over Apple’s logo had some consequences. Seeking an example from this case as well as a few other scams, Google had to temporarily close down the Map Maker.
Later on, the service began to clash with Google’s very own Local Guides, which is a program which rewards power users for providing updates to Google Maps. More importantly, most of Map Maker features, which were the reason behind its popularity, have now been incorporated in Local Guides as well. These features include adding and editing places, sharing extra details about a place, moderating edits, viewing the status of your edits, or editing road segments. Google says that these features will be made available on both Desktop and mobile.
Some other updates like the ability to report missing roads, report issues on a full route, and providing real time reports like traffic or road closure will soon be made available on Local Guide.
Google will work further ahead to modernize its Maps tool. Local Guides will become a priority tool now, gaining early access to all of Google Maps features as well as becoming a replacement to the Map Maker.
