Google to shut down Google Map Maker tool in March 2017

Google announced on Nov. 8 that it will shut down its Map Maker tool in March 2017. The tool allows users to make changes and edit information to Google Maps.

In the announcement posted by The Google Map Maker Team, it said that the standalone Map Maker product will be integrated directly into Google Maps. However, the edits that will be made on Google Maps, starting on the date of announcement, will no longer be available for moderation on Map Maker. The team said that it will allow them to streamline their efforts, speeding up the time for an edit to get published.

The Google Map Maker community started in 2008, editing millions of features that enhanced the Google Maps experience. It initially started to crowdsource information from rural areas that Google toolset has not able to obtain. The users’ behaviours help to improve the features of the public versions of Google Maps including the ability to describe in detail the existing locations.

Google encourages the users to join the Local Guides rewards program where users can earn points and unlock rewards for submitting edits and other information. The team will rely on the rewards program instead of allowing everyone to submit edits.

They expressed in its closing statement its appreciation to the contributors over the years, hoping that users continue to update the map.

Google faced controversy in 2015 when an Android robot peeing on an Apple logo was spotted in Google Maps. The robot was located in Pakistan near the city of Rawalpindi. The company apologised and said that it was a user-created content.

"We’re sorry for this inappropriate user-created content; we’re working to remove it quickly," Mara Harris, Google spokesperson, told The Washington Post. "We also learn from these issues, and we’re constantly improving how we detect, prevent, and handle bad edits."