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Good morning, Marketers, “Congratulations on reaching this milestone.”
That’s from an email Google sent me yesterday in recognition of my fifth anniversary as a Local Guide (and my whopping 81 contributions over that half-decade span). The email had this snazzy graphic on it and, in all honesty, it did compel me to contribute more, which is probably the point.
Local Guides contribute so that Google Maps has a steady stream of fresh information, reviews and so on, which keeps the platform useful for other users. The gamification, however, has drawbacks: “The first is that it makes a user feel like they have more power (they don’t) and encourages behaviors to gain points for the sake of gaining points,” Ben Fisher, Google My Business Product Expert and co-founder of Steady Demand, said “I once heard a user tell me that they would do ‘check the facts’ and select ‘not sure’ on every answer, just so they could gain points.”
Contributing so that all users can benefit is a good thing; it helps keep businesses accountable and lets potential customers know what to expect ahead of time. However, incentivizing contribution presents a conflict of interest which can cascade and potentially impact businesses. And, Google probably doesn’t look good either when users see irrelevant or thoughtless contributions, so what’s the point?
George Nguyen,
Editor
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