Google Map Maker... Saudi Arabia issues

[Abdulkader Babader]

Dear Map Maker community,

I have started a topic here and I have been advised to post here as well

Dears,

I have started a group on Facebook to encourage us all to
start developing the Google Maps in Saudi Arabia

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_202276823124706&ap=1

I have noticed the following... and I hope that it get corrected very soon.

1 - The maps @ (maps.google.com.sa) are only showing ENGLISH ... while @
(maps.google.com.sa/mapmaker) is showing both Arabic and English ... I mean
for the street and cities names ... That is a huge problem ,,,, as our
internet users are mostly know one language which is Arabic ... as will some
names cannot be uniformed in one English Spelling ,.... which makes the maps
for those USELESS and sometimes even for English speakers... USELESS as well
due to the spelling verity.

2- When Adding features (places) to the map using map maker .... and getting
approval for it and it gets published... it is not always shown in
(maps.google.com  or maps.google.com.sa) ... I have added and got approval
for several features (+10 at least) and I can only fine 2 .... magically
these two are not under "My Edits" tap ... all others which has been
approved are still under "My Edits" tap as well as those pending or denied.
( For example the two foundable features are (Sano Subs, Jeddah  AND Central
Fish Market or (البنقله), Jeddah) again for the first one (Sano Subs) it
only can be founded when searching in ENGLISH while the other one can be
found when searching both in English and Arabic

3- How can I be a reviewer,,,,? is there any requirement to be a reiewr..
because when I was trying to add a neighborhood for me ... I couldnt... and
even I cannot find any thig to review.. sometime it appears (rare) ...but I
am not sure why.

4- Time Run out... it is very annoying and repeatedly noticed by many
guys.... I hope that Google finds a solution for it.

5- Directions ... I can get directions @ (maps.google.com.sa/mapmaker) but
NOT on the Google Maps.... that is a very interesting feature and essential
for navigation especially with the increasing popularity of Android phones
... Google MUST enable these features VERY soon to ensure more FANS...

I am really interstead to make our maps looks better, complete and usable.

Finally I am sorry if this was the wrong place to post such issues... I
wanted to contact Google Saudi Arabia but I could only found this when
searching. 

 and This was Adam Lasnik respond.

Hi Abdulkader,

I work on the Google Map Maker team, and I'd first like to thank you for
having such passion for mapping!

Would you be kind enough to repost your note in our Map Maker community<https://sites.google.com/site/mapyourworldcommunity/map-your-world/di...>?

Regarding some of the other issues you've raised:

   1. I'm not sure why this is happening. I'll ask a colleague for insight.
   2. At this time, edits approved on Map Maker still may take some time to
   show up on Google Maps.  We're working hard to speed this up, but for now,
   please be patient.
   3. Anyone can be a reviewer.  Regarding the trouble you're having adding
   a neighborhood:  could you please explain what happens when you try to add
   one?
   4. Please provide more details, ideally links. It'd help us to know what
   you're viewing or doing when you experience time-outs.
   5. We're generally not able to offer driving directions on Maps at the
   same time we open up directions for editing in Map Maker; thanks in advance
   for your patience!

And thank you in advance for posting your note (with added details) in our
Map Maker community.  Once I see your post there, I'll alert my colleagues
to it so they can add any additional information that could be helpful.

Regards,
Adam

My updates are as follows:-

1. OK.. I will be waiting
2. For the two (and still two so far while I got +30 approved and published features). and why it disappears from My Edits list if it is REALLY published to the public.
Also ... for the two published Items ... one of them is only searchable in Arabic while the other is only searchable in English .... I am not sure why is this happening ... all I am sure about is that I have added both languages when adding. while my guess would be (70-80% of the people use Arabic, all the remaining would use English.. so both Language are essential)
3. if any one could be a reviewer, is there any registration needed for that?...
regarding the issue.. if I click on the "Community Edits" it is saying "No Results Found" and Highlighted (No changes pending approval in this map view)... and that was my problem .. If I zoom out ... its all there :) ... sorry my bad :( ... also i could add a neighborhood. thanks anyway ... but for this point ... I prefer if you advice the reviewers to use Arabic (if they can, and I am sure they do) as some of the editors will never understand the comments and this will make a huge gap and hence unwanted results.
4. I am not sure how I would provide links ,,, but it is all in the main screen of Map Maker.. sometimes I am trying to add a feature then it will take to much time to load (after setting the boundaries for example) . until a time out alert shows up and I try again.. sometimes it appears when trying to Edit or respond to a comment...etc.
As well , I have notice a huge slowdown in the webpage when spending sometime adding, it gets laggy and very slow even to type (although I am using my new i7 processor equipped laptop with (Firefox 4 or Chrome 10) ...
5. it is ok, but it is really a shame, as Bing Map by Microsoft already have direction on there map. and you know how old Google map compared to Bing Map. This is very essential for Android fans and also Android owners here in Saudi Arabia. .. and I can assure u that they are a lot (even though the sad fact that Google is Blocking Android Market from us in some devices (as per Motorola staff before I had to return my device because there is no Market).


Finally it would be GREAT if some of you guys (especially Arabic speaker) join our Facebook group so they can help all the people there... I am trying my best to mange it but sometimes I just cannot have the answer. and it takes time to ask here and then comeback to them.





I AM VERY SORRY FOR THE NOVEL ABOVE, but I have to say every thing :(

Thanks a lot.

Abdulkader

[Umbraro]

Hi Abdulkader,

First of all thank you to jump in to help making the maps in Saudi Arabia of better quality! It was just a few days ago that Saudi Arabia was opened for user mapping to the general public!

1) The current maps as you see them on maps.google.com.sa/ are from various sources, probably mostly outside of the country. Many of those sources don't have a base in the country themselves, which is why many entries are only in English. MapMaker is Google's tool for users with local knowledge of the country to help to create and improve maps. That is why the cities and streets on the maps you see at the /mapmaker URL have often a name in Arabic. As more local users will help to improve the maps in your country, more features will have Arabic names beside their English names and the maps will become more useful for both local and foreign users of the maps. Information from MapMaker is periodically transferred to the normal maps side and therefore also the normal Google maps will eventually show both English and Arabic names. I have seen this happening in Central Asian countries where I mainly map where Cyrillic names are now often displayed in the normal maps. Spelling variation for foreign names in the English language is a problem for geographic features. We see these problems daily in MapMaker with Arabic, Cyrillic and other non-latin languages. The best thing you can do is to try to find a spelling variant which is used most commonly by official governmental sources. But even than you can run into problems as our member Anas has pointed out thoroughly with pictures in this recent thread about Syria.

2) Edits in MapMaker take time to be displayed ion the normal maps. The features under MyEdits are not always reflecting all the changes or features pending moderation which you entered. This is a known issue and should be resolved by Google engineers eventually. We all suffer from it now and then

5) Driving directions in MapMaker are used in the background to calculate paths when you want to add street names or route names to a series of road segments. That is probably why they are enabled in MapMaker for your country by default. But at the same time, the road network in the maps needs to be of a minimum quality (intersections connecting properly, driving directions of roads entered properly etc) before you can send people in a car to a specific location using the driving direction logic. I can imagine thet there needs to be a minimum checked level of information in the maps before switching on the direction calculation logic in the general maps.

[Abdulkader Babader]

Thank you very much for your help.. I really appreciate it all :)


I know that Maps in Saudi Arabia are new.... but Maps in general are OLD enough, so Google should make it right from the first time.
These issues may (or may not) take LONG time... and I hope it is not. as if it happens, it may be a market share loss for Google Maps.

1) How periodically? Daily? Weekly? Monthly? yearly? ....that is the question I need the answer for.
and when eventually?
We need specific time if possible, after all we all know it is eventually will happen but we don't want it to be long.
we are very excited for Maps and we hope that we can use them properly very soon (I would say within 2-3 Month max)
For the language problems it will be the minority problem ,,,, but for now, as only English is shown ..it is the MAJORITY problem..this has to be corrected and shall be TOP PRIORITY for Google Maps (in my opinion of course)

2) for the time issue .. these two where instantly published to the Google Maps... but others has been days and no luck.... I hope it would be more rapid and I think it should be no more than 24 hrs since approval.
Can I ask about how long is it usually for the feature to appear in the Google Maps site?
For the other issue (disappearing features) ,,, it is ok... but I just thought that it will be disappeared when it moved to the Google maps site because my only two Google Maps features are removed from My Edits.

3)who decide the minimum requirements? and who evaluate them? .... how can we reach to them and requesting the navigation feature?
at least it can be done only by Map direction on PC like many countries who has Directions but no navigation (i.e. Egypt,UAE, ...etc) ... it doesn't have to be in a car or Guided Navigation (of course for now .. but we will need it later)


Again thank you very much and I hope that Google Maps team will solve all the problems very soon.

[Abdulkader Babader]

the lagging and the slowness of the site is still ON.

and I can sea hundreds of features done by me and others on the map maker maps.. which is still not on the regular maps.


Timeouts are still occurring and some of the contributes could not add ANY feature because of the Timeout and (as per him) he is trying for several days now.


PLEASE we need a quick solution as the excitement is still fresh and hot.. we don't want people to be disappointed and hence leave the project FOR GOOD.


If the bandwidth is not enough please (Google) Upgrade it . if something else was the problem... please try to overcome it.

Thanks a lot... and I am still waiting for some answers :(

[Anas Qtiesh]

Hi Abdulkader,

I found that a big part of the lag on the site can be blamed on the browser. Try installing the latest version of Google Chrome (your best option for speed) or Firefox 4.0 (updated and includes decent speed improvement). Of course it could also be partly because of your connection speed.

The main google maps used to be updated a few times a year (others, please correct me if I'm wrong), but now the process is a bit faster and you can expect updates at least every two months. This is not set in stone and the time of the update may vary for you especially that Saudi was just opened for editing.

As for the navigation feature, many users request it but it requires A LOT of data to be verified and added in order for the feature to be released in any given country.

One last note, if you like, you can also join the discussion in Arabic Map Maker Community here:

http://sites.google.com/site/mapyourworldcommunity/discuss/ar

Mapping could sometimes feel frustrating especially at first, just keep at it and we're all here to help. Don't hesitate to ask.

Best,

Anas

[Abdulkader Babader]

Hi Anas,

I am already on Firefox 4.0 and Chrome 10 .... and most of the guys with me... but we still having the lag
and it is not the connection speed as most of us are 4Mbps and more ... personally I have 16Mpbs..... and I haven't faced any lag or slowness but for Google Map Maker.



BOOOOO, WHAT???? few times a year !!!! that is disappointing :( .... can we ask officials about it ? I mean official google staff.


Ok we will keep adding features ... and hopefully we will meet the minimum requirement of the data soon.


Thanks for the Arabic community (I already spread the news :) )

We will keep doing it Insha Allah.

Regards,

[devendra kumar]

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[Adam Lasnik]

Hi Abdulkader,

Thank you for re-posting your question in the forum here.

And also thanks to Anas and Umbraro.  Their replies to you are thoughtful and accurate; they know Map Maker well and are a great resource in this community.

I recognize that there's still much to be improved in the maps for Saudi Arabia, and I respect that you're frustrated with the pace of updates at this time.  But please do be patient.  Although we're excited to have you and many others mapping Saudi Arabia, we aren't yet able to instantly make the new data available in Maps and with driving navigation.  But please realize that we Map Maker team members are aiming to have data updated on Maps around the world more quickly in the future while still taking care about the accuracy of this data.

Thanks again for mapping, Abdulkader.  Glad to have you joining the community here, and I also hope to one day have the pleasure of visiting Saudi Arabia (and the Middle East in general) in person someday.

Regards,

Adam, Program Manager, Google Map Maker

[Abdulkader Babader]

Hi Adam,

Thank you very much for your reply....I (and sure all of WE in Saudi Arabia) am/are appreciating everything Google do. Starting with simple searching to all of the great services.
But we feel sorry that we sometimes feels like a "leftover" behind the world though I am sure that we have technology and technical minded youth which can compete with others who are already enjoying the complete Google services.

Anyhow, we would LOVE to get dates, as an engineer my self, I believe that every plan must have end date or target date. and I which that you can share that with us.

because it is quite disappointing (and I am sure that you understand) to have all this excitement and hard work and then when you are looking for your work you dont find it ... or at least you dont know when will you find it !!

and I dont want that for my colleagues or for me, as this feeling might be quite destructive and will push away the contributors.


best regards,
Abdulkader

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