Archive for January, 2008
Google: LocalOneBox with more links
31 Jan. 2008 | Author: 
For quite a while, Google’s regular web-search for local search-requests provided additional results generated through Google Maps, using the so-called Local OneBox. As of now, the number of displayed results has increased.
As of early 2007, Google has displayed its OneBox search results, parallel with the hits from Google Maps, with a map view, user-ratings of the discovered undertakings and links to route planning (see our post).
Google now displays up to ten local links, instead of the previous maximal three results. The reason for this is the result of analyzing user patterns. According to Greg Sterling of Search Engine Land, many users had not realized that in addition to the previously displayed three results, there were additional localized results in Google Maps. This was the case, even though there was a note below the three results, indicating the availability of additional information. Google hopes that users will now become aware of the expanded availability of local information that is only a click away.
Qiro now also available for PCs
The mobile local community and information portal Qiro is now accessible for its members using PCs as a web service, and actually offers even more features than the mobile phone version.
Originally Qiro was launched in September 2006 as an exclusively mobile information service. It offered its members individualized local assistance via mobile phone or PDA, such as events, movie times, rental bicycles or restaurant listings. Experience Qiro users could also access the actual location of buddies, when in the vicinity. To determine their location, the service depended on triangulation with nearby cell-phone transmitters, rather than using GPS.
A short while ago, Qiro launched the on-line version. The Berlin-based company Qiro GmbH announced the introduction in a recent press release. With this step, the mobile web community – which by the way was named the title “Chosen Location of 2008″ in the Land of Ideas – opens up the gates to users limited by their hardware, for whom there was no prior access to Qiro. Additionally “Qiro Online” offers a series of advantages (as opposed to the mobile version) that simplifies the user experience.
Members using PCs are now able to show up to eight Points of Interest (PoIs), and through this structure their own local search, according to the organizers. Once can add new PoIs with a mouse click, and private PoIs are able to contain substantially more information using Qiro Online, versus that possible in the mobile version. Importantly, in the PC version, it is also possible to print out lists of PoIs. And the administration of profiles is also much easier. The new version contains everything else that the mobile version contains, including the display of Buddies.
The localization of PC member functions similarly to that of the mobile application, the position of the user being determined by the location of their mobile telephone. Alternatively a user can enter a specific address or default to a previously noted location.
Freedom of opinion on the way out for ratings sites?
Local information services are ever increasingly enabling the participation of their users in the form of rating and notating the found search results. The resulting content is only useful and credible for other users, when negative rating are also allowed – of course, only when relevant or justified.
However, if the website provider allows such (negative) comment from its users, they may face legal consequences. This is indeed what happened with the local information and ratings portal dialo.de, as its management, dialo GmbH explained in a recent Press Release.
The trigger was a critical comment posted by a member, concerning a coin-collector transaction. In the user’s assessment, a complaint was noted stating that in his opinion, an unfair sales tactic was used. The negatively rated organization involved then called in their lawyers. Since the management of dialo.de declined to respond to a court order from the Düsseldorf Judicial System to remove the content, they now face prosecution, as explained in the press release. The reasoning for not giving in to this demand, clearly seems that in so capitulating, the entire credibility of the ratings and recommendation website would be at risk. “We stand firm for our members and fight for the right to deliver both positive, and justifiable ‘negative’ ratings” said Director of dialo.de, Peter Chlosta. In addition, according to Chlosta, dialo.de gives all firms who perceive themselves as unfairly rated, the chance to respond with a statement detailing their position on the issue at hand. As a result, it is even less understandable why the firm with the bad rating immediately chose to take legal steps.
dialo GmbH probably can afford to be optimistic, as their position has been reinforced by previous court decisions, which upheld the right to freedom of speech. An example quoted by dialo.de in the press release is that of case concerning the school pupil-portal “spickmich.de” [‘cribme’ UK]. The Cologne regional court of appeal decided in November 2007, rejecting the interim order of a teacher versus the website, challenging her rating there. The decision means that even teachers must tolerate/accept their bad ratings on the school-pupil site, as long as no defamatory comment is cited.
However, if the court now sees the case differently, the result will be precedent setting, and could mean the end of justified criticism on ratings portals. In this event, the question remains – what use would these portals retain for their users?
Web2.0 portals that depend on user-generated content, haven’t had it particularly easy in Germany. The courts here tend to an enterprise-unfriendly stance as regards the expression of the opinions of users, in blogs and forums. This is indicated in rulings by the Hamburg courts (among others) against the Heise Zeitschriften Verlag [‘Heise Newspaper Publishers’] and the media journalist Stefan Niggemeier. In these cases, the respective management immediately deleted controversial postings by users; however the courts ruled that this action was not enough, and that the comments should have been screened in advance by the portal administration.
Cause of these problems is seen to be a ‘telemedia’ law, based on the EU-Guidelines, which allows the courts a wide playing field – contrary to other EU countries and the USA, where the liability of forums is clearly regulated. The Hamburg court regularly uses this broad spectrum, mostly ruling against the website administrators. This forces the companies to take precautions which are no longer practicable, and which ultimately jeopardize the future of the “collaboweb”. So, for example, the requirement that all comments are now legally required to be approved before publishing – this is not only far too much trouble for the website controllers, but it will also discourage or prevent any free discussion in forums or blogs.
Question 1: Does such a trend mean the end for forums as well as communication possibilities within blogs (at least in Germany)?
Question 2: And what point is there for Web2.0 undertaking such as dialo.de, when only positive ratings are allowed?
Qype is now also in French
Qype is becoming more international by the day. A short while ago the local search and ratings platform officially launched the French version.
The founder and CEO of the interactive information portal, Stephan Uhrenbacher announced the new service in the company blog on January 10,2008. Qype can be used as a French city guide or online directory, said Uhrenbacher.
The German launch of Qype took place in April 2006. Approximately a year later in June 2007, the Hamburg-based Web2.0 portal released an English-language version. With the new French-language division, Qype has entered the hotly contested international core market, as referred to in an interview with “deutsche-startups.de“.
11880.com now has client rating
The online directory 11880.com has introduced a new Web 2.0 feature; as of a couple of weeks users have been able to rate the discovered service providers.
Telegate AG, the management of the web directory, announced the improvements in a recent press release. For users to actively participate, they have to be previously registered, using a valid e-mail address, under the rubric „My 11880.com“. Every discovered service provider is then able to be rated, using the “Bewertung abgeben“ [“Rate this”], using a 5-star system, and also include their reasons with a short paragraph. These ratings can be changed, edited, augmented or deleted at any stage by the management of this site.
It is interesting that only firms, which are enabled to react to the user ratings, are indeed those who are customers of 11880.com. This means this function only applies to firms who have paid for entries in the directory. Other (non-paying) firms, who appear in search results, do not have the opportunity to comment on the user ratings.
This system of ratings offered by Telegate AG has advantage for both user and commercial subscribers: the user benefits from the experiences of other users, thereby gaining transparency for their own purchase decisions, and the firms have the opportunity to react to the comments of their customers.
Wikia Search: free (unaffiliated) search machine is online
Approximately a year ago, Wikipedia’s founder Jimmy Wales announced a new type of search engine. (See our report!) Finally, it has launched as an alpha-version, under the name Wikia Search.
Wikia, Inc.’s operators announced this in a recent press statement. Yet this is actually not a finished search engine, but, as Wales emphasizes, the launch of a project concerned with the building of such an engine. As can be gathered from its name, Wikia Search actually accesses the Wiki-core principle. That is, it depends on the participation of the users in the development and improvement of the search results. Users can for example, rate the results, write mini-articles or, if they possess the required technical “know-how”, they can view and extend the freely accessible software.
It is part of the nature of such a project – especially in the early stages – that the search results are fairly sparse in the weeks just after inception. In addition, numerous features are not functional yet or are completely missing. An undertaking of this kind takes time to develop, as Wales says: “we expect, that Wikia Search, like good wine, will improve with age and involve more and more people.
Unlike Wikipedia, Wikia Search plans to finance itself through advertising revenues, since it is a commercial project.
Dialo.de: Rate without registration
Using the local search-and-ratings platform dialo.de, unregistered users have been able to join registered members in adding their personal ratings of providers.
To facilitate this function, the feature “Quick-Check-in” has been enabled, which is to be found under the links for ‘Rate Providers’ [“Anbieter bewerten”] or under ‘Submit ratings’ [“Bewertungen abgeben”]. Non-registered users may thus submit their opinions, having provided an active e-mail address. A reply e-mail is then sent requiring the use of an confirmation link for authentication (of the address). The rating is then activated online, under an anonymous guest profile, according to a press release from the site provider dialo GmbH.
According to the makers of dialo.de, users can even list ‘sensitive’ or private matters, such as confidential doctor’s consultations. The new Quick Check-in is also practical for registered users, who are able to now provide their e-mail address, and their ratings are then automatically assigned to their registered profile(s). As a result, faster ratings of restaurants and pubs, businesses, craftsmen and service providers are possible. An additional advantage is that the use of a password is no longer required, when using borrowed or public-accessible computers.
Lokalisten [‘Localites’] has new functionality
The local web community Lokalisten.de, according to several reports, counts as one of the five most clicked web pages in Germany. The successful website now has pepped up its offering with further features.
Since the start of Lokalisten.de in May 2005, the membership has grown to over 1.5 million. Members have now gained new possibilities for presenting themselves onsite and making contact with their friends. The management of Lokalisten Media GmbH announced this in a recent press release.
“Localistas” are now able to record where they are presently located, and what they are doing there, and also add their “state of mind/mood”. Using the (Google) map, each localista can see where his/her mates are located at the precise moment. The intention of the community direction, is to offer easier, though more intensive contact to friends– even those not on line at the moment. Through the localization using Google Maps, members are enabled to meet up not only on-line, but also ‘spontaneously’ in real life.
Local Maps Change routing using Yahoo! Local Maps
Similarly to features offered by Google Maps, USA-users of Yahoo! Local Maps are now able to adjust routes according to their own needs or preferences.
Michael Lawless, Product Manager of Yahoo! Maps, announced this new addition, in a post in the Yahoo! Local & Maps Blog.
Users of Yahoo! Local Maps, who generate a routing to a specified destination, are now able to change the specifics of the route easily, using ‘drag and drop’ technology. Using a ‘click and drag’ action with mouse or trackpad, one can move segments of the route to different parts of the displayed map, according to the needs of the moment. Especially practical is the small ‘live’ display window, showing the changes to travel time and distance resulting from the changed routing, and comparing them to the originally suggested Yahoo! routing.
As opposed to Yahoo! Local (where local search is the featured service), Yahoo! Local Maps is now the map/cartographic portal of Yahoo! However this service also allows local search queries. According to Lawless, this specific function has also been updated. Beside the address result, the local search within Yahoo! Local Maps now displays additional information about the search result, including photos, user ratings and user descriptions.
Posted in Local Search per PC, Local Search, News, Local Search Engines, Practical features | 
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MeinNachbar [‘myNeighbor’] is now charging for access
The ownership of local network meinNachbar has changed hands. As of Dec. 29, 2007, members of the formerly free service are now being called to pay up.
In July 2007, this web community was launched under the motto “All neighbors together” [see our post.] Service was offered at this stage by Artista, the Leverkusen-based agency. On December 1st, the service was taken over by ‘netsolution FZE’ (of Dubai), who also run another web community Nachbarschaft24 [‘neighborhood24’].
Shortly after the change of ownership, the terms of use were changed. According to a posting in the community’s blog, one reads that the service will cost €9 (nine Euros) per month, as of Dec. 29, 2007. This membership fee is payable twice yearly, in advance (i.e. Euro 54,00/6 months). The exact contractual details are to be found in the “AGB” [‘Terms of Use’]- where one discovers that one is committed to a 2-year contract, which is extended by a further 2-year term, “if the user does not cancel their membership, in writing (by ‘postal mail’), at least one month before the end of the first contract period”.
In the blog entry, the new owners justify the new charges, on the basis that they see the web community as a “Flirtportal” [Dating portal], and that its features will be widely expanded in the future. They also declare war on the issue of fake user profiles.
A spicy aside – in a post on Dec. 15, 2007 the website ComputerBetrug.de [‘computerFraud’] alerted its readers that the changes to meinNachbar already were sent to its users, combined as a “Merry Christmas and a happy New Year / Changes to the terms of Use” e-mail. Netsolution is a known entity, having generated irritation, annoyance and complaints from users of Nachbarschaft24. As per ComputerBetrug.de, the company has mailed umpteen thousand invoices to the apparently signed-up, paying members.
New search option refinements for Yahoo! Local
In August [2007] the US-version of Yahoo! Local was completely overhauled [see our post]. Now Yahoo! has added further functionality to their local search engine.
As to be discovered in Yahoo! Local & Maps Blog, users are now able to narrow down their search queries using additional filter options. As a result, Shawn Bolan, Production Manager of Yahoo! Local informs that one now should be easily able to find the company or service provider that on is searching for.
In the results list, under the sponsored links, a new horizontal menu is visible, where all searches are able to apply additional filter options. For example, when one searches for a really special/specific restaurant, the user is able to specify various categories, including type (Chinese, pizza, etc.), atmosphere (e.g. family, quiet, etc.) as well as the neighborhood or even a radius from home. In addition one can then reorder the search results among various criteria, including distance or ratings.
Another additional feature is the ability to subscribe to a RSS-feed linked to the various areas of the site, for example, the helpful suggestions/ratings of another user that one has found to be relevant or in agreement with personal tastes. When this person rates another business, one can be notified immediately per RSS.
Google Maps: Street View expanded further
In the USA-version of Google Maps the user now can access eight further cities in the United States using the “Street View” feature.
These panoramic views, showing the most important and interesting areas of these respective cities – such as the city centers or major thoroughfares – were launched for 5 metropolitan areas in May 2007. Since then Google has continuously expanded its coverage (see our post).
To the initial list (San Francisco, New York, Las Vegas, Miami and Denver), Google Street View’s latest inclusions are Boston, Dallas, Fort Worth, Indianapolis, Minneapolis, St. Paul, Detroit and Providence, RI. This was announced in Andrew Lookingbill’s post in Google LatLong Blog. The count of cities now covered by Google Street View totals 23.
Completely new, according to Lookingbill, is the ability to easily embed these 360º panoramic views into users’ websites or blogs. In reality, this is really easy – all one needs to do is copy the HTML-snippet (under “link to this page”), and insert it accordingly into one’s own web pages.
