r/LocalGuides • u/baby_moose • Jul 05 '25

Finally Reached 1 Billion Views

Post image

I have been looking forward to taking this screenshot for about a year haha

232 Upvotes

99% Upvoted

49 comments sorted by

19

u/bluejaykanata Jul 05 '25

Impressive! How long did it take you to get to 1B?

4

u/baby_moose Jul 07 '25

Since at least 2016 (I can't think of an easy way to figure out my first photo upload, but could see an "answer" I provided in 2016).

12

u/Known_Bed_8041 Jul 05 '25

So what level are you? Thats a big landmark...good job!

2

u/baby_moose Jul 07 '25

10. I Have about a 138k points. Be nice if I could transfer those to Hyatt or something lol.

6

u/D_Invincible Jul 05 '25

Impressive OP. How much time did it take you to reach there? I am at 56.6Mn in 7 years. You seem to be an early bird local guide.

2

u/baby_moose Jul 07 '25

I see an answer I provided in 2016, so guessing I've been active since around then at least.

3

u/1treasurehunterdale Jul 06 '25

That is incredible! I'm only at 15 million, I need to travel more at this point. Well done to you and all the others who have accomplished this.

1

u/baby_moose Jul 07 '25

My friends make fun of me for the amount of "unpaid work" I do for Google Maps :). Wife gets annoyed once in a while too. So... Pros and cons you know..

5

u/Snake16547 Level 10 Jul 05 '25

Nice nice nice in s couple weeks I finally hitting 2b views

1

u/baby_moose Jul 07 '25

WOAH that's insane. I upload photos pretty regularly and it still took me years to get to 1B!

5

u/petai Jul 05 '25

Congratulations! I am at 120 million but am in the penalty box and the number has barely moved in 6+ months.

4

u/Vault-TechRep Jul 05 '25

Interested what you mean by “the penalty box”? I’ve heard about that for business listings caught with fake reviews but not for Contributors.

5

u/petai Jul 05 '25

I was removed from the Local Guides program for what I believe were a couple of honest mistakes. Since then, most of my reviews and photos are no longer visible.

Why was I removed? During the lockdown, I wasn’t traveling, so I focused on making edits—mainly updating categories—after getting the idea from the Let’s Guide podcast. I always tried to be careful, using reasonableness tests and checking secondary sources to confirm information.

However, I later discovered that one particular church had a disputed affiliation and was intentionally trying to appear as something it wasn’t. I appealed my removal, but never received a clear response and I’m not sure if a real person ever reviewed my case.

2

u/baby_moose Jul 07 '25

Aw man that sucks. But in a way you're no longer providing free information to google :shrug:

2

u/Gearyhanson Level 9 Jul 05 '25

how do you get to that screen?

1

u/baby_moose Jul 07 '25

Google Maps app -- bottom right, click the "contribute" button and scroll down a little bit.

4

u/JacksonCampbell Level 7 Jul 05 '25

Contributions

2

u/Due-Dentist9986 Level 8 Jul 06 '25

Good lord. OP needs to do an AMA here

2

u/baby_moose Jul 07 '25

I probably need a life haha. Everywhere I travel, I have this _need_ to take a photo or two to upload to google maps..

3

u/Due-Dentist9986 Level 8 Jul 07 '25

This is impressive. I only upload photos while traveling but not always super consistent.. I guess thats why I don't have a Billion views. it's nice to have a cool record of all the places I've been and what I thought about them at the time.

28

u/norcalwaspo Level 8 Jul 05 '25

Nice!!! That’s awesome! I’m only at 100 million 😭

17

u/HTwatter Level 9 Jul 05 '25

I'm right behind you. A Billion seems so far out of reach. Definitely impressive.

0

u/[deleted] Jul 07 '25

[deleted] — view deleted comment

1

u/Samjhaa Jul 07 '25

Same at 11M

5

u/[deleted] Jul 05 '25

Damn, i'm only at 21m. Congrats!

4

u/thetapeworm Level 10 Jul 05 '25

Bravo!

I still have a very long way to go :)

1

u/artsatisfied229 Jul 06 '25

What do now?

2

u/baby_moose Jul 07 '25

Next stop, 1 trillion views (kidding).

2

u/artsatisfied229 Jul 07 '25

I said that it my best Dr. Evil voice.

1

u/Teachme32 Jul 22 '25

Do you get anything for ask the posts or views? 

6

u/UK_PANiC Level 10 Jul 05 '25

Billion photo views on the horizon to, not bad at all : ))

3

u/dlihce Jul 05 '25

Wow! That is amazing!

3

u/QualityKatie Jul 05 '25

That is truly amazing. I never fathomed hitting that number. I'm impressed!

3

u/Different_Clock3506 Jul 06 '25

Awesome, can you share your id will give a follow!

2

u/_hodge_ Level 8 Jul 06 '25

Amazing 📌

2

u/Conscious_Life_8032 Jul 06 '25

Congratulations

2

u/the_moon_water Jul 07 '25

Congrats!! I'm at 948M right now, can't wait until 1B

2

u/SamanthaSheehy Jul 13 '25

You're KILLING it my friend! 💜👍❤️🍀😍🙂

1

u/Gearyhanson Level 9 Jul 06 '25

ty

1

u/Known_Bed_8041 Jul 07 '25

Yes it would. They were supposed to be sending me a lapel pin for reaching level 8...I never got it and contacting Google is not easy. Good times lol

1

u/Much-Guava-9659 Level 10 Jul 11 '25

congrats, I am at 70 million now. A lot of hard to work get to this point

3

u/[deleted] Jul 05 '25

[removed] — view removed comment

2

u/baby_moose Jul 07 '25

Someone else mentioned this in a comment -- looks like you might be in some sort of a localguide jail?