Wayfinders,

We’ve had an amazing first month since the global launch of Niantic Wayfarer. During that short time, we’ve seen over 750K nominations submitted and 760K Wayspots reviewed, helping clear out our queue of nominations. By expanding the reviewer base we’ve seen a 2x increase in Wayspots going live, and 3x increase in edits approved. As a result of doubling our reviewer base, we’ve been able to accept over 340K new Wayspots since launch!

That’s just the beginning, as the program continues to mature, we are looking to your feedback to help us continue to make impactful improvements to Wayfarer.

We know it’s important to equip Wayfinders with real-time clarifications and empower conversations on what is and is not a high-quality Wayspot. We will be focusing on consolidating this information, making it more universally accessible, and easier to digest.

These resources combined with our existing infrastructure of quality control measures will help to make sure that Wayfinders who are not adhering to a high standard of review quality are removed from the program.

These measures include actively monitoring the platform for abuse from both Submitters & Reviewers. We've also taken steps to pre-approve or reject certain Wayspot nominations prior to them entering Wayfarer. Reviewers who disagree with our assessment may see a dip in their performance score. Reviewers who fail to follow Wayfarer guidelines may also be asked to take the quiz again, or (depending on the severity of the violation) may receive a time out from Wayfarer. Submitters who try to influence reviewers using the title or description fields may also have their submission privileges revoked.

This system has been working since our worldwide launch and we’ve seen a steady stream of Wayfinder reviews that match closely to our standards. Reviewers who adhere to Wayfarer best practices will see an increase in their performance rating.

As we work together to build upon this success we wanted to express our appreciation for your commitment to Wayfarer, and reassure you that we are equally dedicated to making it a great experience for you.

We look forward to bringing you more updates in the coming year!

- The Wayfarer Team