Photo Review for Newly Added Wayspots by Niantic
A few weeks ago, @NianticCasey-ING gave an update regarding the technical issue on the newly added Wayspots which was an initiative by the Wayfarer team. And in that update, he mentioned this:
In addition to these removals, we have performed a backend photo update that has added a generic image to any newly added Wayspot that didn’t have a photo. We won’t be making further changes but you can contribute your own photos in-app to help improve these locations.
Now, I've been seeing a lot of photo reviews on those newly added Wayspots lately but I'm not sure if this was the mentioned backend photo update that they did. But if it is, it is concerning because when I do a reverse image search on those photo reviews, it comes back with results of the same image posted on different websites, and it contradicts the criteria for a valid nomination where the submitted photo of the nomination should be original. This may become a precedent for wayfarers to submit nominations using third party photos.
Can someone from the Wayfarer team clarify this?
Here are some samples of photo review that I've encountered using third party photos:
Sample 1:
Reverse Image search:
Link: https://insideretail.asia/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Puregold-store.jpg
Sample 2:
Reverse Image search:
Link: https://franchisefinderph.com/uploads/franchise/136_main.jpg?v=1618279008
Sample 3:
Reverse Image search:
Sample 4:
Reverse Image search:
Link: https://pix6.agoda.net/hotelImages/281/281318/281318_15102113120037026193.jpg?s=1024x768
Sample 5:
Reverse Image Search:
Comments
If it's a third-party photo, as it appears to be in all of these cases, you should mark it as not meeting the guidelines. In these cases, since the placeholder image itself does not meet guidelines, you would be marking both images as not meeting guidelines.
Yes, as it should be. But there needs to be a clarification from Wayfarer team's end if these photos came from them, as a result of implementing their backend photo update. And if it is, should we accept it since it was their implementation (and if that's the case, is it considered as a honeypot?), or is it still subject for review from our end (as reviewers)?
I think the right answer here is to just pretend that they weren't seeded by Niantic and review them like any other photos. I'm not sure if existing photos get removed if they're voted as not qualifying, but I don't think so.