Archive for 2010

With the new function “Business News”, the online directory YellowMap wants to help its users with the entry to social media to help gain more coverage. Starting now, business owners can alert customers of new products and current offers as a short message in their entry and on Twitter.

According to the portal, the service is free and everyone that has an entry on YellowMap can use it. And that is very simple to do: direct on the portal’s start page, next to the logo on the top, there is a button titled “Ihre Business-News” (Eng. your business news). After clicking the tab, users will be prompted to log in and can then write and post a short message with a maximum of 90 characters, and with one click, can publish this to the firm’s profile and Twitter.

Greven address-book publisher’s coupon portal Online-coupons.de is now offering its customers deals directly from their region using on-the-go. Through cooperation with Coupies, which has specialized itself for mobile deal alerts, users can use selected coupons from online-coupons.de with their mobile device. Read the rest of this entry »

Microsoft’s search engine Bing has announced a number of updates that will be going live in the next couple of weeks. In particular, the local offering from Bing Maps, the counterpart of Google Maps, will be launching some new features. Read the rest of this entry »

The US publication Time Magazine honored Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg with the title of Person of the Year 2010. He has connected more than half a billion people and has expanded their social relationships, according to the publication. With the invention of a new system for information exchange, the 26 year old has revolutionized the lifestyles of countless individuals worldwide. Read the rest of this entry »

With askalo, users can find dependable handymen, good restaurants, or even free parking advice and recommendations from other community members.
The start-up company Yalwa went live with its question/answer community in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland about six months ago. Already in August of this year, 35 countries were added to the list.
What’s so special about this platform? It’s a local search and social community at the same time. Users don’t search for names, particular branches, or keywords in a particular place, but rather ask a specific question, which has to have a local reference Read the rest of this entry »

The new location-based search from Yahoo, which is currently being testing in the USA, should be “hyper-local”. The current beta-version of Yahoo Local doesn’t focus on finding restaurants, doctors, or other vendors and service providers, but rather on news, events, and deals in cities and smaller communities. Read the rest of this entry »

The local US-based search engine Where has an unusual approach to things: they are attempting to attract users to locations that they’ve never heard of, and may soon be making quite some money with the “Pre-Check-In” idea.
Those searching for a restaurant, a bar, or another location, can choose the place along with the categories “eat”, “drink”, or “play”. The entries made are memorized by the search engine, as well as favorite places and those in the “Want to Go” list (which is only available to Facebook users). Those that download the new app to their mobile device are asked for their preferences upon start-up. Now, Where can recommend compatible locations according to the gathered data. The search engine stresses on introducing users to vendors that they haven’t heard of. Read the rest of this entry »

Microsoft’s Bing has been using free map material from the community project OpenStreetMap for their local offering with Bing Maps for a while now. The data exchange is now being intensified due to Steve Coast’s, OpenStreetMap’s founder, new job at Microsoft. Coast, as a leading manager, will be responsible for the integration of the Open Source Maps (OSM) to Bing Mobile, according to the Bing Blog. In return, OpenStreetMap will have access to the high-resolution aerials from Microsoft as well as a supporting software which would help simplify the mapping process through OpenStreetMap. Read the rest of this entry »

Oh goodness…Google’s deal with Groupon was pretty much as good as signed and sealed according to media reports (we report), but now it seems as if the deal has fallen through. US media reports reported this weekend that the negotiations were indefinitely interrupted, unfortunately without success. Read the rest of this entry »

Starting immediately, the local search engine suchen.de provides ratings for the search results. This is made possible through the partnership with the rating-community golocal. Those that search suchen.de for products and services within a city will now find the ratings that the members of the golocal community gave to the coordinating vendor, in addition to basic information such as contact information or hours of operation. Read the rest of this entry »