Troubleshoot Local Guides account issues

Follow the steps below to troubleshoot and resolve common Local Guides account issues. 

Manage your account

You can only participate in the program and receive rewards with one account. Contributions are non-transferrable and accounts can't be consolidated. Learn more about our program terms and conditions.

Manage your email preferences

To manage your email preferences, check the Local Guides settings page. You can unsubscribe from any email types, like News and Product Updates, and remain subscribed to Rewards. Your email preferences will take effect within 7 days.

Find the congratulations email for leveling up

If you can’t find the congratulations email for reaching a new level:

• Check your "spam folder."
• Search your inbox for [e-mail].

Exit the Local Guides program

To exit the program, go to the Local Guides opt out page.

Your reviews won’t be deleted but you’ll no longer receive Local Guides rewards.

Appeal a removed account

Important: If your account has been removed, do not create another account to post on Connect. Creating alternate accounts is against our program rules and may result in another removal.

If you don’t find a Local Guides badge on your profile and can’t sign in to post on Local Guides Connect, you may have been removed from the Local Guides program. 

Common reasons for removal include:

• Participating on Local Guides as a business
• Inappropriate behavior on Connect
• Posting duplicate reviews or photos
• Contributing offensive content or spam
• Adding fake locations
• Changing correct business names
• Adding unnecessary keywords

Check if your account follows our current policies

To make sure others can find what they’re looking for on Google Maps, we check that Local Guides contributions are helpful, accurate, and appropriate. Any Local Guides account can be removed if they violate our rules and policies, even if it was unintentional.

Since our policies change from time to time, make sure you stay up-to-date with our current rules:

• Local Guides program rules and community policy
• Reviews, photos, and videos on Maps
• Mapping guidelines on Maps

We can’t always let you know that you violated a policy before your account is removed. However, we try our best to contact our most active Connect contributors when their contributions may violate a policy.

Send us your appeal

After you’ve read the policies above, if you think that the removal of your account was a mistake, you can submit an appeal. 

1. Wait until it’s been more than 10 days since your account was removed.
2. Fill out the Appeal form.
3. Wait up to 3 weeks for our team to investigate and respond to you. 

Tip: In most cases, we can’t provide details about the removal.