Archive for the ‘New Search Machine Interest’ Category

As Google receives a good deal of critique for its new personalized internet search, Foursquare has been receiving much positive feedback from its users for its similar direction. The geolocation service has released its “Explore” service, which was previously available on the mobile application, online. Users can immediately begin to discover personally recommended places all over the world under foursquare.com/explore.
Based on the more than 1.5 billion check-ins from the community members as well as numerous tips, users can now receive personalized recommendations for restaurants, bars, museums, or other locations in the vicinity or place of choice, according to the Foursquare blog. The location-based check-in service has implemented artificial intelligence in its search engine: the more a user checks in, the better Foursquare is at finding new locations, according to the post.

“Explore” is not only personalized, but specific: the majority of search engines generate very general results: users searching for “pizza” will get the same list of pizza restaurants, regardless of preference of crust, whether the restaurant could be considered “fast” food, or if the user would rather sit down. The “Explore” tool instead allows users to conduct a full-text search, which helps make the search more specific, so that users only get the results that might be interesting to them, say a pizza restaurant that serves extra crispy crust. But that’s not all: the search can further be reduced in which the user sorts between the categories “Where I haven’t been yet”, “Where I’ve already been”, “Where my friends have been”, or “places offering Foursquare deals” – which are offerings for group check-ins. The geotagging service sees its new web-based feature as a step in the direction of a big idea: “[Foursquare] is always connecting you to the most interesting things nearby, wherever you happen to be in the world.”

Explore is not just an exciting new development, but also means that Foursquare will be joining the local search market – and is already recognizing the need for personalized information.

The Telegate AG has given its online directory 11880.com a facelift: the portal will open with a location-based local search for the correlating city. The new feature is described as being more local, personal, and structured by Kirstin Bergmann in the company’s official blog. Read the rest of this entry »

Tupalo.com – a local search platform which doubles as an international directory and rating-community – has announced a new partnership with the technology start-up Yext. Tupalo users in the USA should now be able to find local service providers even more efficiently with the help of the new Yext information provided. Read the rest of this entry »

About half of all Germans search and purchase Christmas presents online. Nevertheless, about forty percent buy their presents in stores on-the-go – but many users wouldn’t mind having some assistance using location-based services while trying to find the perfect Christmas gift, according to a study from Gelbe Seiten with the market research institution Innofact AG. Just in time for the Advent season, several location-based services have release new services to help users find the perfect gift in local stores. We would like to present two of them: Read the rest of this entry »

The tantalizing scent of roasted almonds, waffles, and mulled wine is in the air and invites guests to visit the popular Christmas markets. Now a special local search app shows us where the nearest market is: the free Christmas market search application for Apple and Android smartphones from Das Örtliche. Read the rest of this entry »

Future Tap is introducing user experience reports to its mobile, location-based iPhone application “Where To?” with the new 4.0 update. User can rate their experience on the spot at newly visited locations.
Ortwin Gentz, Future Tap’s CEO, described the new feature in a short and concise: “Where is the next Pizzeria, the next dentist or the next hair salon? The local search app Where To? for iPhone finds it at the drop of a hat. It is familiar with 700+ local categories and thousands of brands and chains. The new 4.0 version now displays ratings and reviews and allows to review places right within the app. So users know right away whether a visit is worthwhile.” Read the rest of this entry »

As of this week, users can now search for organic and eco-friendly retailers in their city by using the website SuchDichGrün.de. The site, currently offered in the beta-version, provides users with a collective of various retailers throughout Germany, which offer an array of organic and/or eco-friendly products. Read the rest of this entry »

The search engine giant’s deal service Google Offers now offers personalized local deals in addition to a wide offering of daily deals. Read the rest of this entry »

The 25 million user strong general interest online portal T-Online.de is now joining the local search bandwagon: as a response to the growing demand for local services and information, the service massively expanded its regional offering at the beginning of October. Users now have access to 346 city and county portals with regional to local news, information, and services available, according to a press release from the Deutsche Telekom, the carrier of the online portal. Read the rest of this entry »

Starting immediately, regional ad customers from meinestadt.de can book directory ads as well as Google AdWords. This is made possible by a strategic alliance between the two internet giants. The city portal offers small businesses full service tools for local online marketing, claims the site. Read the rest of this entry »