I have recently started trying help contribute to POIs for my direct area. However I seem to have hit a snag and received a Ladder Warning for “Abuse”. Specifically for “Submitting a non-real object image” stated in the Ladder appeal submission I made. However, this object exists on a newly developed walking path created in our neighborhood This does not show up on Google Maps yet as it is only a few months old (about 3).
This land was bought out as a city easement and used to be a residential plot/easement, however it is now community owned public land. I assume this is the reason for this warning but one of my main asks is, how should I handle submitting spots on newly developed areas?
Are these “Abuse” warnings because it is too close to Single family homes? The homes are a good distance away from this but I can see that as maybe the reason? Though the warning reason states that the object doesn’t exist.
Since I now have my Pokemon Go account at risk with this warning I do not want to proceed anymore with helping build POIs and wanted to ask if anyone has had them lifted prior? I walked out today to the stop location and took other suplimental photos since when I submitted through the App you can only do one surrounding area photo. I also took a video of walking down the path for whatever that is worth.
I guess my questions boil down to:
What could I have done better?
Am I incorrect on my research that the Little Libraries main requirment is to be in a public place and be “safe/have a sidewalk” which this does?
Has anyone had luck with appealing warnings like this?
How should I approach POIs for areas that are brand new/don’t show up on maps?
I went out to confirm location with a app that has GPS and seems the pin was correct:
This Free Little library is located on a community developed walking path. This path is owned by the community and is public property. this contains multiple Free libraries and stone work honoring those who donated to make the path happen. This path helps save a large time through the neighborhood to community locations.
A lot of people fabricate fake pokestop in order to have couch pokestop (i am not saying you did this) so you need to give extra evidence proofing the location especially when street view is against you. There is very little way for reviewer to tell whether your submission is real or fake if submitter didnt provide extra evidence.(you cant expect reviewer to believe “trust me bro”)
I assume you got 1 day warning from abuse ladder system. I suggest you to record video from identified nearest visible building or landmark in streetview or satelite and walk until you reach the candidate.
The video should also record 360deg area surrounding the candidate so staff can tell whether the nomination is in SFPRP or no
Just to be sure. Did you receive below email and warning everytime you login? Alternately you can wait for niantic staff to DM you first before doing anything.
Thanks for the advice TjoeMi. For your question, yes I did get an ingame warning, emails and such which is why I was also asking about it. It unfortnatly scares me away from doing any more submitions for the time being as don’t want to risk my account here. I did video of walking down the path though didn’t do a 360 like you mentioned as well. Not sure what the best medium to supply that here though or if it is appropriate to supply here regardless.
Sure I don’t mind sharing those. The main contents are below.
From an initial glance do you think I did anything glaringly wrong with the photos or suplimental information? I guess links are valid for the suplimental information?
Hello Explorer,
Following an internal investigation performed by our team, we have confirmed that your recent behavior has violated one or more of our policies.
You have violated the following policies: Misplacement of wayspot submissions. For more details, look for previous emails sent by noreply@nianticlabs.com.
Hello Explorer,
Following a report and an internal investigation performed by our team, we have confirmed that the content you contributed on 5/31/26, 7:47:30 PM UTC is violating one or more policies. We have taken action against it.
Here is more information:
Content: Free Little Library off Community Pathway
Policy Violated: Misplacement of wayspot submissions
Ok thanks. So i can confirm that the cause of warning is reviewer dont think your pinned location is correct
I look into the video and honestly i am at lost. Unlike you thats local and probably walk the area manytimes. I still have no idea where the video is taken. Thats why i suggest you to start recording from nearest vsible building/landmark(that can be verified from satelite/street view). Put yourself in reviewer shoes. Can foreigner who see the video confirm the location?
That’s fair. I can try to take another tomorrow then to share if someone wants There is a business right to the left of the end of the video that would be on maps I can utilize so that isn’t an issue at all.
Just adding this here. Doesn’t help as the photos are prett old on street map but can see the company in the last couple seconds here (again I’ll snag another video when I walk by next time)
Thank you for providing the photos and video. After a careful review, I have revoked the warning from your account. This will not reflect on your records. We regret any inconvenience caused.
In the future, if you are nominating locations where street view or aerial imagery is outdated, we recommend submitting them through the Wayfarer website. This allows you to upload multiple supporting photos, which helps prove the location’s validity and increases your chances of approval.
I’ve approved the nomination. If the Wayspot is eligible to appear in Pokémon GO gameboard, it will reflect once the dataflow sync and may take 48 hours.
