Hello again, Mr. Morten!
I hope you’re doing well, and I wish you a wonderful day. I truly appreciate the time and effort you put into writing this message for me, and I apologize for any inconvenience or misunderstanding I may have caused.
Regarding the multiple accounts, I only use this account for our current conversation, and I’m genuinely not sure how it reached Level 4—perhaps due to some old contributions. Even during that period, this account wasn’t registered as part of the Local Guides program. After my primary account was removed from the program, I haven’t tried rejoining with any other account except for this one to engage in these discussions. I’m aware this isn’t allowed, and I apologize for it, but I had no other option. I’ve learned so much from this insightful conversation, and I’ll exit the program immediately after we’re finished.
I continue to post photos and review places on my personal account even though it’s not in the Local Guides program, hoping to rejoin someday soon. I plan to publish virtual tours in the streets of my city for the first time, as well as 360-degree photos.
When you previously mentioned similar photos, I realized I had uploaded two images of the same dish (mandi and mansaf) but from different angles, so I removed one and kept the other. Thanks for pointing this out!
About the photos taken from videos, I agree this is an issue I need to address. I have a question, though: if I take photos of a dish, then there’s no need to add a video, correct? And if I record a video, I don’t need to post photos, right? Perhaps it’s best to use photos for food and videos to capture the ambiance of the place.
Thank you for the kind words about my photography. The reason for some repeated photos is that, occasionally, I replace an earlier image with a better one, or I upload both if I like them equally. I have another question: some dishes are served in stages, where juice, cream, or other toppings are added afterward. In such cases, should I only post one photo?
Regarding the restaurant menu images, yes, these are images of a restaurant’s menu that I sometimes take from their Instagram page and then add to the map to include their menu. I wasn’t aware that this is prohibited, and I appreciate you informing me, as this could indeed explain why my account was flagged. I’ll address this immediately and work on improving my contributions to Google Maps.
In terms of my review style, unfortunately, this is actually my usual writing style! I always write like this everywhere. I’ll make an effort to make my reviews more personalized and specific to the actual experience.
Finally, regarding my location in Iraq, I understand the international sanctions. However, we are quite similar to other Arab countries with diverse relations, like Kuwait. Most U.S. sanctions are targeted at Iran or specific political figures in Iraq. Without going into too much detail, there are some features unavailable to us, as you mentioned, like the ability to edit road maps. Ironically, I can edit roads in Iran, but not in Iraq—or Kuwait! I contacted several contributors about this and found that this feature is also unavailable in other countries like Cyprus, so it seems that Google is gradually adding it. Overall, I contribute in multiple countries, especially when traveling, but my primary focus is on Iraq since millions of tourists visit us every year.
Mr. Morten, thank you once again for your time, for helping me, and for the valuable advice you shared. I genuinely appreciate it. I’ve followed you on Google Maps and Instagram to learn from your experience in this field.
I’ll work on correcting the errors in my account as much as possible and strive to return to this wonderful community!
