Google Maps User Content Rules Now May Prohibit Selfies, Blurry Or Poor Quality Images

Google Maps has updated its photos and videos criteria for the Google Maps user-contributed content policy. Google added selfie photos, excessively dark or blurry images, significantly rotated compositions, and the use of filters that dramatically alter the representation of the place may be removed from Google Maps.

Google added and altered these two lines:

(1) If the primary subject of the content is irrelevant to the location (including selfie photos where the person/group is the main focus), it may be removed.

(2) Examples are excessively dark or blurry images, significantly rotated compositions, and use of filters that dramatically alter the representation of the place.

Joy Hawkins highlighted these changes on Twitter:

Google just updated their help center to advise users not to upload photos that are blurry or selfies. pic.twitter.com/ZnkmlCbUyH

— Joy Hawkins (@JoyanneHawkins) July 25, 2022

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Oh, the photo above is from David Hasselhoff in 2014 on Google+ – no joke.

Forum discussion at Twitter.