Google expands its Local Guides program by giving away prizes for Google Maps reviews

The most prolific reviewers will get 1TB of free Google Drive storage, which usually costs £7 a month

Users actually get real rewards for leaving reviews, not just fake internet points (Google)

Google is offering bonuses like entry to exclusive competitions, early access to new Google products, and up to 1TB of free Google Drive storage (worth $10 a month) to those who write reviews and post information about local spots on their Maps app.

Google's Local Guides program has been going for a while, but now there's even more incentive for Maps users to share their local knowledge with others.

By writing reviews, adding information about opening hours or insider tips and uploading photos, Local Guides will accumulate points.

Getting more points leads to better bonuses - Level 1 users, with zero to four points, get access to exclusive contests.

Level 2 users, with up to 50 points, get to try out new Google products and services before anyone else.

Level 3 users get a special badge that shows inside the app, and level four users, who have 200 to 499 points, get their Google Drive storage upgraded from the standard free 15GB to a huge 1TB, which usually costs $10 (£7) a month.

Those super-users with more than 500 points enter the elite group of Local Guides, and become eligible to go to Google's inaugural summit in 2016 at the Google campus in California.

Updated profiles will show users more information about reviewers (Google)

It's a win-win sitution for users and Google - the company gets a better and much richer app, and users actually receive real rewards for the relatively pleasant work of trying out new places and writing a few sentences about them.

Despite the popularity of iPhones in Europe and the US, Apple Maps' traditionally terrible performance has made Google Maps the go-to map app.

Citymapper has become one of the best urban navigation tools, but since it only covers a handful of UK cities, it hasn't gained much traction outside of London.

For these reasons, Google Maps is generally seen as the market leader when it comes to mapping apps. If these rewards make the Local Guides scheme take off, that position will become stronger.