Posts Tagged ‘Empfehlungsportal’
Qype-App for Windows Phone 7
6 Jul. 2011 | Author: 
Europe’s largest rating portal, Qype, has finally released a version of its app for the Windows Phone 7 in cooperation with Microsoft, following the release of the apps for Blackberry, iPhone, and Nokia.
The fact that about 25 percent of all user ratings are composed on a mobile device lead the internet giant to cooperate with the rating portal, according to a press release. Microsoft’s goal: a perfect Qype app for its Windows Phone 7. The app is available for download directly under http://www.qype.com/go-mobile, and offers an exclusive feature for the smartphone: searches can be specialized using a filter and lets users see where their friend are on a map.
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Discover More with View and Foursquare
And the check-ins have done it again! Well, sorta…newcomer View is kinda like a check-in, but you don’t have to check-in. Instead, you just open up the app and voilà!, you get information about various things in your vicinity.
This relevant information, called a “discovery” is automatically displayed in realtime. Examples of discoveries could be historical facts, passwords to wi-fi, best waiter in the restaurant, etc. In fact, there is no real limit to the amount of information you can receive, seeing as how anyone can post their discoveries from home in the categories News, Tip, or Deal. The app uses Foursquare and Google APIs to add the corresponding location. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Social Media, Web Communities, Local Search on the go, Practical features, Virtual world | 
Tags: Check-in-Dienste, Empfehlungsportal, Foursquare, View | 
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Vodafone invests in Qype
Vodafone Ventures, the investment department of the cellular company, has given Qype a cash injection of 3.5 million Euro. An additional 3 million Euro is being given to the popular local recommendation portal by existing investors, Advent Venture Partners, Partech International, and Wellington Partners. Qype plans on working on its mobile applications from the whopping 6.5 million Euro. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Blogroll, Social Media, Web Communities, Local Search on the go, Virtual world |
Tags: Bewertungsportal, Empfehlungsportal, mobile Apps, Qype, vodafone |
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Qype releases API; announces new CEO
Qype is on the move: alongside its announcement of its new head, it has also released its API and is offering to reward developers for the best mashups.
It was recently announced that Qype-founder and CEO until now, Stephan Uhrenbacher has resigned his position. He will become Chairman of the Board, as described by the company in a press release. The new head of Qype is Stephen Taylor, whose credits include Regional Vice President and Managing Director von Yahoo! Europe as well as Managing Director of Overture Europe.
Just a few days before the change in management was announced, the company released their API. As announced in a press release, content from Qype, such as places, ratings, locations, place categories or photos become accessible for integration in mashups and other apps. The recently released ‘Qype Radar” application for iPhone (see our post) is based, for example, on the API.
Developers can download version 1.0 of the Qype API, and start designing applications. In fact, the best apps will be rewarded: first prize will receive a prize of Euro 3.500, second prize Euro 1.000 and third prize Euro 500. To participate, developers must submit their completed new apps by February 28, 2009 to Qype.
The API is not going to remain at v.1.0. As Stephan Uhrenbacher announced in the company blog, the first quarter 2009 should see the appearance of the Qype-API 2.0. Using the innovations of this API, it is planned to also integrate photos and reports from Qype.
Posted in Local Search per PC, Local Search per Mobile phone, Local Search, News, Practical features |
Tags: API, Bewertungen, Bewertungsplattform, Bewertungsportal, Community, Empfehlungsportal, lokale Informationen, lokales Such- und Bewertungportal, Qype, Qype Radar, Stephan Uhrenbacher, Stephen Taylor, User Generated Content, web2 0 |
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Yelp starts in the United Kingdom
In July 2004, the local search and ratings portal Yelp was founded in the USA. It has continued to expand since its launch, introducing a Canadian version in August 2008 and finally has crossed the Atlantic to Britain.
Yelp-CEO and co-founder Yeremy Stoppelman detailed the changes in the company blog. Now Yelp users can also search for undertakings, and relevant ratings in London and surroundings.
In a press announcement, Stoppelman disclosed that London has long been a planned destination – it being the center of the English-speaking world, and comes additionally as a result of the wishes of British Yelp users.
Yelp is one of the market leaders in the area of local Web2.0 portals in the USA. According to sources, Yelp’s users have submitted more than 4,5 million ratings. In December 2008 alone, the website recorded a total of 16,6 million unique visitors. Can one predict a similar success story in the UK? The competition has not been sleeping ¬ Yelp is going head-to-head with successful contenders, including Brownbook, Trusted Places and the German search and ratings portal Qype (already in Britain since June 2007).
Recommendation portal – TestMyBIZ
The recommendation portal TestMyBIZ is now available for users searching for local companies or service providers, who wish to choose exclusively from other users’ suggestions.
As outlined by the operators TestMyBIZ GmbH in Bergische Gladbach in a press release, registered users can submit and recommend their favorite stores and businesses. Only positive ratings are possible, contrary to other sites such as Qype or Dialo.de.
Users are able to use a 5-star system, ranging from “above average” through “tops”. The ranking of the results on TestMyBIZ is derived exclusively from the user ratings and is absolutely unable to be influenced by the company itself being rated. However, in order to activate a full/complete entry with ratings etc., companies must approve the ‘publication’ of the entry. A basic entry is therefore free; however if an undertaking wishes to augment and expand the entry to cover further information and/or photos, a charge will be made.
Though the portal has been online since September 2007, the sheer numbers of entries, at least in our test experience, are somewhat thin on the ground.
Townster is sold to highest bidder on eBay
After Townster, a local search and ratings portal with networking capability, was offered for several months for sale on eBay, it was recently finally sold.
As can be seen in the offer page on the online-marketplace, the virtual hammer fell for Euro 37,827.77 for the platform. A real bargain, considering more than Euro 150,000 had been invested in the project. The new owner of the portal is the Ex-OnVista head Michael W. Schwetje, posted Townster co-founder Gleb Tritus in his personal blog.
Townster was launched in summer 2007 (see our article). After an unsuccessful financing round and disputes among the founders in November 2007, the hunt for a buyer was started for this local search presence. According to a post by Gleb Tritus in Townster’s company blog, the sale did not happen at that stage, because the interested parties were only interested in taking on the portal with the full team. The team members had by that stage essentially been dissolved and were committed to other projects. Finally, it was decided to offer the platform via ebay auction. However, even after the successful sale, Townster is still a topic for its previous owners- they are planning to “support Michael & Co. as they hunt for suitable new team members, so that Townster can relaunch on the same track as beforehand.”
GeoGraffiti: local information to listen to
At the end of April 2008, the local speech platform GeoGraffiti launched a trial run. Apparently successful, the Beta-phase has just ended, as is reported by the operators in a press release.
GeoGraffiti is a local ratings platform for the USA, providing content exclusively provided by its users. Here one can find locally relevant information on restaurants, businesses or parks, or describe locations of any sort and rate them.
This doesn’t sound new. Contrary to other local recommendation services, the ratings at GeoGraffiti are not available in writing but exclusively as voice messages – so-called ‘VoiceMarks’. The telephone stands front and center of this new Web2.0 undertaking. This means that participants can call directly from en route via their cell-phone and simply leave their voice message. The results, according to GeoGraffiti, are linked via Zip Code or geographic coordinates (latitude/longitude) to the location in question. Similarly, cell phone users can listen to other VoiceMarks relevant to their current location.
Of course, this service is not only mobile based, but also on the web. Here one can request a location on a Google Map (‘Search Map’), as to where one wishes to deliver or receive information. Existing VoiceMarks are displayed as blue Speaker icons on the mashup. They are clickable to listen to, and if registered, one can add a rating or record an answer. If one wishes to leave an answering VoiceMark, the user enters his/her cell phone number and receives a callback.
The idea isn’t bad. However, purely acoustically, the quality of the messages leaves something to be desired – many are barely understandable. This certainly can be the result of the phone connection, but also on the speech quality and delivery of the user. The content is still rather thin on the ground, with relatively few VoiceMarks. This may change with time, dependent on the success of the service.
Posted in Local Search per PC, Local Search on the go, Local Search per Mobile phone, Local Search, News, Practical features |
Tags: Bewertungsportal, Empfehlungsportal, Geograffiti, lokale Informationen, Lokale Sprachplattform, ortzsbezogene informationen, Sprachnachrichten, Voice Marks |
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Qype now also has events
In the last August week, the local search and ratings platform Qype has expanded their functionality by introducing an “Events” tab, where the user can, for example, find events at a particular location, rate it, comment or indicate whether or not they will be attending.
Qype-CEO Stephan Uhrenbacher announced the new feature in the company blog. He sees the new event calendar as the most important development of the portal. The need had become keen – users were already recommending block parties, rock concerts and the like.
The new feature, according to Uhrenbacher, was launched simultaneously in the German, English and French language editions of Qype. At the time of launching there were already over 150,000 events in the database – Uhrenbacher did not however mention the source of the data for these events.
GoLocal.de starts up
As already reported on these pages, the makers of GoYellow also are venturing into the Web2.0 world. On March 10, 2008, the new ratings portal GoLocal.de was launched on the web and is available to all users under the motto “Find better together”…
GoLocal.de in effect is a product of GoLocal GmbH & Co. K.G. that in turn is a daughter company of GoYellow Media AG, whose products include the online directory GoYellow.de.
The new ratings platform GoLocal.de is similar in many of its functions to the recommendation platform Qype. Using GoLocal.de, users can find businesses & services under “locations” – and the ratings of other users for a specific locations/undertakings. The results are generated in a list and shown on a GoogleMap. Particularly practical is the sort by alpha, distance or best rating function. Registered visitors can also add their opinions to generated listings, providing star ratings, adding photos or adding new ‘locations’. A route planner is not offered at present.
Along side the search for ‘locations’, GoLocal.de also offers an event search. Using this one can research events in the neighborhood and also add descriptions and comments.
In a press release, the company describes GoLocal.de also as a ”ratings community”. This confuses somewhat, since registered users are unable to communicate with other users, contrary to what one understands today under community functionality.
The new service is still in the Beta-Phase, and will be expanded in the coming months, according to the press release. As of mid June 2008, the full version is expected to go live, and plans also include the simultaneous launch of a mobile portal.
Posted in Web Communities, Local Search per PC, Local Search, News |
Tags: Bewertungsportal, Branchenbuch, Empfehlungsportal, GoLocal, GoYellow |
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