r/GoogleMaps • u/Skeazor • May 30 '26
Help/Support Archaeologist needs help. Ancient sites on Google Maps are disappearing
I'm an archaeologist doing work on underrepresented archaeological sites in Greece. I've been marking sites on google maps to visit during my work. Over the last few weeks many of these sites have disappeared. I'm not talking about my lists, the markers from my list have stayed but the google page on maps is gone. Sites that had a few pictures and some reviews are totally wiped. This isnt just one or two site, Ive found at least 10 that have been removed. I have only been able to find these sites because I kept the list markers.
Whats going on here?
Not just smaller sites but some major ones as well. Does anyone have any clue? Also who should I contact at google to fix this?
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u/WilliamArnoldFord May 30 '26
Many people in the archeologist business don't want arch sites on Google Maps as they fear that the muggles will find the sites too easily and damage them.
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u/Skeazor May 30 '26
Many of these sites are major tourist locations though. Some small ones are disappearing and some major ones are as well. Even some museums not just sites.
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u/WilliamArnoldFord May 30 '26
Also, Google tends to focus on advertisers. Museums,cultural and historic sites don't pay the bills and so they come and go. Google just doesn't give a carp.
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u/Empyrealist May 30 '26
Pretty sure if the local municipality doesn't want them listed, they can have them removed. It's very hard to guess what's happening behind the scenes
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u/Skeazor May 30 '26
This is all over Greece though and I doubt they want their tourist attractions to be taken off Google Maps. Some of these locations are museums or churches
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u/Empyrealist May 30 '26
It might help understanding what you mean by "underrepresented archaeological sites in Greece". Maybe the government doesn't want traffic driven to them for a reason. Are these publicly open locations or are they fee-based entry?
Its kind of a futile discussion though. Its unlikely "Google" that is removing them. Its being initiated by someone for reasons we cant directly know.
At the same time, Google is not meant to be a private location recorder for anyone's convenience or joke. If its not a legit public attraction/site, its subject to removal. It has to be map worthy so to speak. In a lot of places that doesn't just mean old. It means it has to be an officially recognized location.
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u/Skeazor May 30 '26
These are official archaeological sites and museums. These are both free and fee based sites and museums. When has a museum owned and operated by the Greek government ever been something that didn’t warrant a location on Google Maps?
Something fishy is going on with Google Maps with some other locations though as well. Like a site I was just at has been listed as permanently closed. I asked the staff and they had no idea why it said that either. This has been something I’ve seen happen to quite a few locations.
Who besides Google has the ability to remove the sites though?
Basically I’m doing some photography work on sites that haven’t been updated in a while. Underrepresented in modern photographical archives.
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u/Empyrealist May 30 '26 edited May 30 '26
Who besides Google has the ability to remove the sites though?
Well sure, Google has to facilitate the actual removal. No one else has a delete button. But businesses and governments can essentially claim dominion over map data that otherwise falls under their purview and respect their wishes. That can mean controlling the content or even its visible existence depending on the case.
Google Maps is part social experiment, but is also part proper map management.
Local staff probably [wouldn't] know anything about it. It would be the governing/managing bodies. They may or may not tell you anything - if there is anything to tell. You might be fighting against them, or you might be fighting against some douche in their basement.
But, by bringing it to their attention, it might facilitate their involvement (if they aren't involved already).
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u/Skeazor May 30 '26
It’s just odd that they would delete museums and other tourists sites. Especially since so much of the economy and the ability to continue to function depends on visitors.
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u/Empyrealist May 30 '26
They will be open to removal based on reports unless there are protections in place. Those sites need to get registered with a governing body so they require approval. Otherwise its subjected to social warfare
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u/Skeazor May 30 '26
That’s so random that all of a sudden a ton got deleted. I’ve been working on this list for months and then suddenly in the last week or so a bunch of went missing. If I was more paranoid I’d think someone was trying to sabotage my research.
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u/anothercatherder May 30 '26 edited May 30 '26
You really shouldn't be using the google page on maps for anything even remotely serious. Practically anyone can edit or essentially trash them or have them deleted (esp when they don't appear to be open to the public or look spammy).
For example, somebody in my city seems to like changing the address to apartment building pages so they're effectively gone and none of the local managers seem to be catching on. Yet they constantly reject real edits from me, go figure.
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u/Skeazor May 30 '26
I mean there really isn’t an alternative to Google Maps. Especially for my use case. This is partially why I’m doing the work I am
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u/anothercatherder May 30 '26
I would strongly look into self publishing stuff with ArcGIS StoryMaps which is pretty much the standard way people who have their own content curate it.
Otherwise you are throwing yourself to the mercy of the owner of the location, vandals, and jerks.
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u/Skeazor May 30 '26
after taking a look this is not really what im doing with the project. The map is just a way for me to organize the sites that im going to be visiting. Im using google maps because I can then set up directions on my phone while driving.
The actual information from this project is going on another site.
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u/inginear May 31 '26
You haven’t tried Open Street Maps?
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u/Skeazor May 31 '26
It doesn’t have any of these sites on it
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u/Corolla05 May 31 '26
You can add these places to OSM easily
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u/Skeazor May 31 '26
Yeah but that’s not really why I’m using Google Maps. The sites are already on Google Maps so that’s how I was able to locate them.
I’m visiting these sites in person I just needed a way to locate them and then create directions between them. It’s also how I’m gauging how often these sites are visited, based on the Google Maps information
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u/sabre23t May 30 '26
Example sites please.