Please note that we may lock additional features in the future, for example to prevent random spam editing. We will update this FAQ in the event of such changes.
Road-specific Questions
How do I draw a road?
See Adding Roads and Transportation.
How do I draw a flyover?
You can draw an elevated road that passes over another road as a flyover. To draw a flyover, select the category Road Flyover/Underpass under the Line tool and mark the flyover. Press ENTER and a pop up box appears. Under Grade levels, select 'Surface', 'Overpass 1', 'Surface.' Click on Save. Google Map Maker creates the flyover.
Similarly, you can draw a tunnel by using this category. Only change the Grade levels to 'Surface', 'Underpass 1', 'Surface.'
What does it mean to "not to draw the road in a single stretch"?
Two or more roads should not be drawn as one road. As seen in the image below, the horizontal road takes a right angle turn. However, both the roads (vertical and horizontal) are different roads and also have different road names. In this case, each should be separately drawn.
The roads are correctly drawn in the image below. Both the roads are drawn as separate roads and the intersection point is correctly formed.
Editing and Moderating Content
How can I edit features I added earlier?
Locate the feature or in the left panel, click My MapMaker. Click the appropriate feature to edit it.
Can I undo the changes that I have made to the map? What about selectively undoing changes?
You can undo pending edits before they are approved. To do this, click My MapMaker and under the appropriate edit, click "Undo".
How long does it take for changes to appear? When will they go into Google products?
The changes can be seen on Google Map Maker in real time. Not all user contributions will appear on Google Maps or other Google products. The contributions that do appear on other Google products may take a some time to show up. Google Map Maker is a repository for user submitted information. Google may choose to accept some of that data for display on other websites and products.
Why is someone reviewing my changes?
Having users moderate submitted content ensures that information remains factual, accurate, fresh and comprehensive. This also allows you to get feedback. New users may expect many of their changes to be reviewed.
Who can moderate what?
Anyone who signs into Map Maker can moderate edits. There are several ways to access features for moderation in Map Maker. Everyone who moderates should review and follow the moderation guidelines. Some members of the Google Map Maker team pitch in to make and moderate edits via their own, individual user accounts. Our intention is for people who have the most immediate local expertise in particular areas to moderate edits in those areas.
All users and moderators outside the Google Map Maker product team have the same edit access in Map Maker. As you edit successfully and gain trust in the system, your edits may be approved more quickly, i.e. require fewer moderations. Similarly, as you moderate successfully over time, you gain trust in the system and fewer additional moderations are required for other users' edits that you moderate. Highly trusted editors and moderators may be granted access to geographical features that are locked for less trusted users.
My changes have been incorrectly rejected. What should I do?
Please review your change to make sure that it conforms to the Guidelines. If you still believe that your change was rejected incorrectly, leave a comment for the moderator in the Description tab of the Info Window.
I added a feature some time back and later, it was modified. Who modified the content I added?
Google Map Maker creates high quality map data through collaboration among different users and user groups. Connect with other users on the Map Maker Discussion Group.
What should I do if I enter incorrect information on the map?
Please edit the specific feature and fix the incorrect information.
Sharing
Can I stop people from making changes to the features that I have published?
Google Map Maker creates high quality map data through collaboration among different users and user groups. Hence, it is beneficial to all if we can edit each other's information and make it better. Connect with other users on the Map Maker Help Group Forum.
Someone else has been making changes to map data using my account. What should I do?
Please change your password regularly to ensure integrity of your login account.
Troubleshooting
Where are the error messages?
Error messages appear
in three places. Some error and status messages are shown in the
orange box, immediately above the map. Other error messages appear in
the left hand column, immediately below the
Search Results / My Items tabs. Finally, invalid data error messages appear in the info windows.
I logged out of my Google account while I was using Google Map Maker. Are my changes lost?
When you sign out of Google, Google Map Maker also signs you out.
All completed changes are saved. If you are not done making changes,
sign in again and continue working.
I've experienced a session timeout or accidental logout from Google
Map Maker or a loss of network connection. Can I recover the changes
that I have made?
All completed changes are saved. However, if your session times
out, or a network connection is lost while you are making a change,
that change may be lost.
I cannot see the changes that I made on the Google Maps. What have I done wrong?
Not all changes made on Google Map Maker will appear on maps.google.com.
I am getting a strange error message. How can I report it?
First, search for it in the Map Maker Help Group. If it is not there, please add a post to the group along with the error message, steps on how to create the error and a link to the feature. To get a link to the feature, open the Info Window of the edit/feature, and do a 'Link to the page'.
Miscellaneous
Is all data appearing on Google Map Maker valid?
Google Map Maker depends on users to create data, and to fix inaccurate or invalid data. Therefore, it is possible that some inaccurate data appears in the service. If you are seeing some invalid content, please fix it.
How can I report Spam or Abuse?
Find the feature you want to report by searching by name or by location. If the feature is published (and there is a red marker), click "Report this". If the feature is pending (and there is an orange marker), click moderate and can choose to "Report Abuse/Spam".
How can I report product bugs/issues and feature requests?
Check out our Map Maker Issue Tracker to see if the bug or feature requests you want to tell us about has already been reported by another user. If the request is listed there, please vote for it by clicking on the issue and adding a comment. Your voting will help give the request higher priority. If you don't see the request there, start by posting it in the Map Maker Group so that other Map Maker users can join with you in a discussion of the request. If your idea garners some interest, enter it into the Issue Tracker and invite others to vote for it!
Can I view my changes in as KML files?
No, you can view your changes in Google Map Maker only.
