Community helps develop Google Maps in Dubai

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Community helps develop Google Maps in Dubai
According to one of its moderators, the goal of the event is to bring Dubai into the list of top cities on Google Maps

Dubai - The #LocalGuidesDubai Instameet is a community event tie up with Google in order to develop the quality of information that Google Maps has in Dubai.

By Keith Pereña

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Published: Sat 22 Oct 2016, 12:51 PM

Last updated: Sat 22 Oct 2016, 9:02 PM

This morning, @igersdubai - Instagram's official channel in Dubai organised an event together with Google with the goal not only of showcasing the city, but also to further develop the quality of information that Google Maps have on the emirate through the use of Google Local Guides.
Google Local Guides is a sharing platform where one can share photos of locations and even discuss them by means of community driven reviews. The information uploaded on Local Guides then becomes a part of Google Maps' growing database.
The event was moderated by local Instagram talents such as Cosmopolitan CosmoAwards 2016 winner for Best Use of Photography Joy Caasi, Google Business Group Manager Salman Saeed and Level 5 Local Guide Carl Hewlett.
The event took place around Old Dubai starting from the Spice and Gold Souks before finally reaching the heritage neighborhood of Al Bastakiya across the Creek.
Hewlett, who is a Level 5 Local Guide - The highest rank attainable, shared with local Instagrammers how their photos can become part of Google Maps' data on a certain location. The process which is as simple as creating a Google account and sharing photos and creating reviews on a selected location has gained the interest of the community and this resulted in a rather huge turnout of photos for surrounding points of interest around Old Dubai.
Caasi on the other hand told Khaleej Times about the goal of the event which is to put Dubai on the list of popular cities on Google Maps. She said: "Our aim is to be included in the top five cities. Currently Dubai is nowhere within the top 10 for the past two weeks. So we want to get Dubai on top in one week's time."
Apart from Google, the event was also supported by the #MyDubai campaign.

(Left to right) Level 5 Local Guide Carl Hewlett, Google Street View trusted photographer Joy Caasi and Google Business Group Manager Salman Saeed.
(Left to right) Level 5 Local Guide Carl Hewlett, Google Street View trusted photographer Joy Caasi and Google Business Group Manager Salman Saeed.

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