I’ve noticed quite a few neighborhood community identification signs / neighborhood entry markers be added as POI. So, naturally, I want to add my neighborhood. If others are added, surely mine would get added. Nope. Immediately not accepted “Niantic’s automated process for not adhering to Wayfarer criteria”. Whatever the AI is doing to deem my entry as rejected is beyond me. My photo is better / clearer than other submissions that were approved. I think the AI is off and not accurate that makes these decisions. I’d like to see this get fixed.
What you’ve described are not normally considered to be acceptable submissions, as they don’t meet any of the criteria.
While it is true that quite a few have been accepted over the years, this does not change their eligibility, and the vast majority continue to be rejected. The AI have learned this, and will reject them when it ‘recognises’ them. It sounds like it is, in your case, working as intended.
If anything, your clearer subs may be working against you (not that you should try to obfuscate the subject to get around this!)
Appreciate that this is frustrating, but please try to stick to the criteria and don’t take your cues from what other people do, even if they sometimes get away with it.
Thank you for sharing this. We have discussed neighborhood signs ad nauseum on the forum, and I come down firmly on the side that they - in most cases - do not meet any of the eligibility requirements of a great place to exercise, explore, or be social. I hope that your rejection indicates that the Machine Learning model has been taught to reject them.
If you disagree with an “automated process” rejection, you can still appeal, just like any rejection. We have 2 appeals, each on a 15 day counter before they can be used again. I would not appeal this, obviously, but I would not have submitted it.
Thanks for the feedback on it… these were new POI that have cropped up in neighborhoods close to mine and quite a few of them… and once they are accepted and in game do they ever get removed as a correction? If they don’t get removed as a correction then, IMHO, if one is to be accepted, they either all should be or all should be rejected and removed… doesnt seem “fair” to accept some and not others.. regardless of the automation… I get it, I do, but if its going to be fair then they should go in and remove ones that shouldn’t be there… if I see multiple ones pop up in game then i assume its acceptable and shouldn’t be an issue… I’m not talking 1 or 2 here… I’m talking about a TON around my area that have cropped up… so… let’s make it fair for all… either reject and remove them all or accept them all… I mean FWIW, they are a gathering area for the community to come and hang out and generally a safe spot to be around… and not on anyone’s property… but I can also understand no one would want to have random folks sitting around a neighborhood entrance because it turned into a POI… so the only real answer is to remove all of them all together… or accept them… since they look like plenty of them have been accepted.
This is usually a picture issue. Try taking new pictures and resubmitting. A pro tip: When you take your pictures, take multiple close ones and multiple wide ones so you can cycle through them if you get hit with the AI rejection. This instant AI rejection seems to be a new thing. I have only noticed after we got the new web submissions. Also I doubt AI is “learning” to reject neighborhood signs. I just got 4 accepted withing the last 2 weeks.
(assumption/observation ahead) The instant ML rejections where it doesn’t even say that it’s been automatically denied, I’ve seen happen when you resubmit multiple times without changing up things enough.
Rule of thumb is never use existing wayspot as comparison. Each nomination should be reviewed by its own merit. Wayfarer never release blanket statement about neighbourhood sign. Each neighbourhood sign also differ from each other. Some might be more artistic or historical than other. Its also possible that someone write something that we dont know in supporting information. Thats why we cant generalize all neighbourhood sign to be eligible or not eligible. The onus is on submitter to present enough information to convince reviewer.
Neighboorhood signs are not by definition ineligible, but at at the same time also not per definition eligible.
Every wayspot is treated equally, all have to pass the AI test, followed by a Human test (either local reviewers, a larger pool of reviewers in case of an upgrade, or by Scopely staff).
All community decisions are consensus based, so depending on the community a wayspot may be accepted, or rejected. This is also a reason why the rules for removal are more strict than for acceptance. After all, there was proof that the local community did like it.
We see that in many countries the community more or less has created its own standard. Just this week we learned that in Japan most bridges are considered good wayspots, in the UK we see postboxes and stinkpipes, in the Netherlands markers for the extensive biking network, in Australia the Survey Markers.
Most people (myself included) will look at what they see in the game when reviewing, so I agree that it does not help that they are not mass removed, but to be fair, the downside is, that it would probably result in a big disappointment for many, many players.
The “good news” is that as these signs are not forbidden, you can try again, with different pictures, the odds are that with a few attempts, you should be able to pass the AI test, so in that case your local community will decide. And as you said, they appear to approve them. I only approve the really nice signs, but in the end my opinion doesn’t matter, I’m not your local reviewer.
Removal criteria is much stricter than acceptance criteria.
Once a wayspot exists, even if it didn’t meet acceptance criteria, if it exists in real life, is safely accessible and not blatantly ineligible, it is very unlikely to get removed.