What Does Niantic Do When Players Submit in Game Something That Has Been Permanently Removed
As a Pokemon player I have had the experience many times where a gym I am working towards gold on is permanently removed from the game. I know it happens. Sometimes it happens quickly, like the Rose and Crown ex-raid gym in Downtown Phoenix removed soon after it was announced the restaurant was closing, and sometimes it takes years, like a restaurant on 16th Street and Bethany Home in Phoenix which had closed and had 2 other restaurants occupy the same space before the gym was finally removed.
I have attempted to submit for removal in game something that for the purposes of this discussion has been permanently removed. The first time I submitted it I fairly quickly got a reply back that my request had been denied. So I tried again, and just like last time fairly quickly my request got denied.
So my question is, what does Niantic actually do when someone submits something as permanently removed? Why are some thing removed right away while other things stay in game for years before they are removed? After all, this thing I am trying to get rid of has never been in imagery, so I know they are not comparing the thing in the photo to imagery. Does it take a certain number of requests by various players to finally convince Niantic to remove it? Or is the appeals process in Wayfarer the only way to get things removed? I don't want to use the very public process in this community forum to appeal my rejected removal request, where I could face retaliation if the players who conjured up fake submissions for their own personal gain see their submissions in my posts.
Comments
As far as we know, Niantic checks Google Maps and Street View to confirm if something is at the location or not. If there is doubt to the validity of the removal request or they simply cannot verify that the object was removed, they will default to rejecting the request. This allows for the requester to make an appeal with further photographic evidence.
An appeal to a public forum for everyone to see you mean ...
On a public forum, not to. In the end it will be Niantic's decision to remove/restore/edit anything based on evidence provided. Other forum users can only provide comments (which may or may not influence Niantic's decision - I have no clue about that).