Hi, I recently started playing Pokémon GO again and found that my area is filled with PokéStops and Gyms everywhere. In 95% of the cases, the locations don’t actually exist, or they are just generic kirana stores, petty shops, and temporary stalls that do not meet the Niantic Wayfarer eligibility guidelines for permanent and unique points of interest.
There are more than 200 such locations just in my area. I could easily spot 10,000+ of them in my district alone. Currently, I’ve been using the single-report option with the 40-per-day limit, but isn’t that too little and too time-consuming?
I also found information about abuse reporting and mass reporting, but how do you report such a large quantity? I don’t have time to manually copy and paste the title and coordinates of every location for mass reporting. Even if I do mass report them, I lose track of what I’ve already reported.
If you would rather not call it “abuse” then you can also use the property owner form listed under “Wayspot Removals”: Reporting a Wayspot — Wayfarer Help Center I find this one less straightforward, since the reasons I have to pick from never exactly match. Just pick something, and list your items in the text section. If you get an email asking for your credentials as property owner, do not reply. That is just an automated acknowledgement email. A human will get back to you.
I’m from India. I’m thinking to go forward with first option. Is there any limits on number of places I can report? Also can I know the average response time, if any, from the team.
Okay, you are where they have imported a lot of data, and a lot of it is bad. I don’t really have a lot of experience with doing massive reports, but lots of people on the forum do. I will leave this to them, and want to commend you on trying to clean up your play area.
First of all , if those are import, there are no abuse ongoing. You simply have to accept it. You can see its import when it doesnt have foto. You can report them for removal if they are unsafe or got other problem. But criteria wise import doesnt follow standard wayfarer criteria.
Ok, But those locations don’t even exist. Some random person names, mechanic shop, hotel etc. The gameplay sucks man. Randomly I went to an abandoned residential area with no people. Guess what? Even there too there are gyms and pokestops?
Those import get data from source that might be obselete, some got missplaced but to certain degree, they exist.
Anyway they are experimental import data in india and indonesia. We didnt even know if its permanent or no. Just be happy that you have many pokestop/gym. Many people in rural area dont have it.
Those Wayspots are likely the result of the two changes mentioned above.
In India, data has been imported from other map sources to improve the playing environment for Pokémongo players and enable them to qualify as Wayfinders.
As others have said, imports don’t have to follow the same explore, exercise, socialize requirements. You can get them removed for only a few specific reasons.
If they dont exist- in this case you need to be able to prove it. Reference streetview when possible or take a picture of the area, preferably with gps data attached showing that the object is not there.
If the location is unsafe for pedestrians- like if the pin is in the middle of the road, on an inaccessible roundabout, or other place it would be dangerous to stand at while staring at a phone.
If the location is inappropriate- at a children’s school, a single family home, an alcohol store or other adult only buisness.
Has offensive language in the title or description. Like get hit by your mother with a ruler words or racist, species, misogynistic, phrases.
If the waypoint is really there but just generic then you are stuck with it. Lots of the imports are placed incorrectly. If you can find where they belong then you can just get them moved.
For long reports I like to create a word document and list each waypoint so I can just copy and paste it into the form when I’m ready. Its best to stick to the same format as you would when reporting just 1 waypoint.
“Waypoint name” (current location) reason for removal with evidence or (actual location) if it needs to be moved. More evidence.
Bullet points keep the document more organized. Large reports also can take a long time for them to go through. Considering the scale of your issue I’d suggest splitting it up into multiple smaller reports. Maybe 10 at a time?
It’s rather unfortunate, really, that the ones who carried out this little act weren’t rogue players at all, but the Wayfarer forum’s own management team.
They happily shoveled in heaps of low‑quality, wildly inaccurate location data from sources like Foursquare, and then—because why stop there—quietly rebranded those “Power-spots” into Pokestops.
And here we are.
Wayfinders have pointed out, repeatedly, that this is the sort of behavior that would get any of us banned on the spot.
Yet nothing has changed.
Not even a hint of accountability.
And honestly, we all know exactly what their response will be:
“If there’s a problem with the data we imported, please report each incorrect location one by one. Ensuring the accuracy of wayspot data is the responsibility of Wayfinders. We appreciate your contributions. Thank you.”
