Posts Tagged ‘Nutzerbewertung’
Recommendation portal – TestMyBIZ
5 Dec. 2008 | Author: 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.
pointoo.de integrates more content
The local search platform pointoo.de (see our earlier post) has expanded its online offering. Users now can access many more medical and restaurant ratings.
This new injection of content is the result of cooperation with three new partners. The ratings for the medical branch are supplied by the patient-portal DocInsider; the feedback on hotels, restaurants or bars is delivered by Varta (a German hotel and restaurant guide) and by the lifestyle magazine Prinz.de.
“Through the cooperation with services such as DocInsider, we offer our users practical background information” explains Christian Strasheim, managing director of pointoo GmbH, in a press release. pointoo.de is not really a ratings platform in the standard sense (such as Qype, Dialo.de or KennstDuEinen?. It is rather more like a local search service, where registered users can mark their favorite locations, add comments and recommend to other users. Negative feedback is seldom found on this platform (by the nature of rating favorite locations). In order to enrich the users objective assessment of searched locations or service providers, Strasheim announced that further cooperative relationships are being planned for different areas of interest.
Posted in Web Communities, Local Search per PC, Local Search, News, Practical features | 
Tags: Beurteilung, Bewertungsplattform, Community, DocInsider, Georg von Holtzbrinck, Kooperation, Kooperationspartner, location bookmark service, lokale Informationen, Nutzerbewertung, pointoo, Prinz.de, User Generated Content, Varta-Führer, web2.0 | 
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Brownbook: joining up is worthwhile
The most websites whose content is derived from its users, build on the users’ good will and willingness to participate. The UK-based Web2.0 web directory Brownbook offers its users also a pecuniary incentive- for new entries or ratings earn financial rewards.
This takes place when signed-up businesses reward user entries or ratings, in response to one or more (paid) ads placed using the portal’s advertising-options. Brownbook pays you a slice of anything it earns make from businesses that ‘claim’ their listings and promotions, as a result of users making contributions to Brownbook.net.
For example, an ad could cost UK £ 5 (or US $10) to a ‘claimed’ business. 20% of the Brownbook fees to that business go to the user who last edited the entry. (See “How much can I earn?“)
The new ‘User Earnings Program’ is discussed in a video in the company blog by Brownbook co-founder and CEO Dave Ingram. The principles are also announced in a press release.
Those who want to earn money with Brownbook must register online, and also need a PayPal account where the payments may be transferred. And one must really be diligent about writing entries and ratings.
Brownbook appeared unofficially in December 2007 and went ‘public’ in february 2008 in the United Kingdom. The operators describe the portal as a free and open Wiki-like online directory, where users can search for local firms, rate and describe these or add new entries. The content which derives substantially for the users, is able to be edited by any other user, at least as long as a company has not claimed control over the content. The platform has been targeted internationally, as of July 2008. A recent figure (October 2008) announced by the operators listed over 27 million entries for 230 countries. The most entries are generated in the UK, USA, Canada and Australia.
Posted in Web Communities, Local Search per PC, Local Search on the go, Local Search per Mobile phone, Local Search, News |
Tags: Beurteilung, Bewertungsplattform, Bewertungsportal, Branchenbuch, Branchenverzeichnis, Brownbook, Community, lokale Informationen, mobile lokale Suche, Nutzerbewertung, Onlinebranchenverzeichnis, PayPal, User Generated Content, Verzeichnisdienst, web2.0 |
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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.”
Qype speaks Spanish
Qype is becoming more international: a year after its German launch in early 2006, Qype followed with a launch in Britain, and in early 2008 in France. In summer 2008, portals for Switzerland and Austria appeared on the web, and recently Qype made its Spanish debut.
Qype-CEO Stephan Uhrenmacher, made this announcement in the company blog. Not only Spanish nationals profit from this launch – other speakers will benefit from the new content, such as businesses, hotels and restaurants in Barcelona, Madrid and elsewhere.
With this latest launch, the local search and rating platform is now available in four language-editions: German, English, French and now Spanish.
Posted in Local Search per PC, Local Search, News |
Tags: Beurteilung, Bewertungsplattform, Community, lokale Informationen, Nutzerbewertung, Qype, Spanien, Spanisch, Suchdienste, User Generated Content |
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Google Maps builds on the knowledge of its users
Google knows that Users know their own areas best of all. The search engine giant is now allowing users of its German-language Maps site, to edit and append the search results.
The ability to rate entries has been available to registered Google-Account holders, as of June 2007. Now users have the possibility to change these – such as when address details are incorrect or incomplete, or the markers are incorrectly positioned on the maps. Indeed an out-of-date result can be completely deleted. All these functions can be found in the respective Info-Window of each search result page, accessible through a click on the “Bearbeiten” [en=edit] link. This however can only be done as long as the owner of the undertaking themselves have not ‘claimed’ control over the entry and have verified the information themselves.
If a location is missing, registered users can complete or add to the results. To access this, the user clicks on the link “Add Location to Map”.
These features have been available on other language editions (eg. the USA edition) of Google since March 2008 (see our post).
pointoo finally leaves its pilot phase behind
Pointoo officially was launched in July 2006, and at the end of May 2007, the portal finally ended its beta-status. Since its recent relaunch the local search engine, operated by the publishing group Georg von Holtzbrinck, now offers more content, new functionality and an improved user interface.
The operators, in a press release, announced this a short time ago.
Differing from other localized search and ratings platforms like Qype, Dialo.de and others, pointoo is foremost a ‘location bookmark service’. Users are able to undertake location-based searches for places such as restaurants, museums, shopping facilities, doctors or service providers, etc. and, if logged in as members of pointoo, save interesting found locations in their own personal locations collection. pointoo has however, some similarities with the aforementioned ‘competitors’- it allows its users to add comments and publish them linked to their saved locations. And for users who cannot find their beloved/preferred local hangout or bakers via the search option, pointoo also allows users to add these locations to the portal. The latest update also enables users to add detail (such as opening times) or photos to existing search results.
Another new feature, is that content is now also provided by other ratings platforms, as well as by the operators and user contribution. According to the operators, the platform is now working with well-known partners, for example: Helpster.de (in the medical ratings sphere) or Autoplenum.de (for the motor zone). Negotiations continue to include further cooperative partners. Found results are now compatible with many navigation devices, allowing for quick and easy transfer to these devices.
pointoo is however, not only a search and bookmarking platform – since its relaunch it now displays even more of a community character. The exchange of contact information among users now facilitates an adjunct to the pure information provided by the site, building a people network, consisting of like-minded or interested users. So when users interested in, for instance, motor cross routes (perhaps a few hundred people in Germany, in an example cited by the operators), thanks to the new functionality of pointoo, they will be enabled to find and connect with each other.
Posted in Web Communities, Local Search per PC, Local Search, News, Practical features |
Tags: Beurteilung, Bewertungsplattform, Bewertungsportal, Community, Georg von Holtzbrinck, location bookmark service, Locations, lokale Informationen, Navigation, Navigationsgerät, Nutzerbewertung, pointoo, Relaunch, User Generated Content, web2.0 |
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“Talking Points” – local information for seeing-challenged and seeing
Imagine walking along a city street and receiving on one’s cell phone all kinds of information on buildings, businesses or restaurants, in real-time as one strolls along. Using a new Bluetooth system, this may soon become a reality.
It’s called “Talking Points” and has been developed by scientists at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
A press release reports that the system is foremost intended for the visually impaired, to convey information to them en route about their direct surroundings. For the sight-challenged, it is possible to get from point A to point B, but usually what they pass from A to B remains unnoticed, says James Knox, one of the service’s developers. “Talking Points” should change this situation. It should enable this group to locate, for example, public toilets, police stations, bus stops and stations, or restaurants providing menus in Braille.
However this service could also be useful to the seeing, added Knox. Uses for the system could be special offers being broadcast when passing businesses or stores. Also imaginable is the possibility to call up reviews and ratings of other users, relating to the firms or restaurants in the immediate vicinity.
The system works using a Bluetooth transmitter, which costs less than $20 US, and can be used everywhere where information can be beamed to passersby… shops, restaurants, parks, tourist attractions, city facilities or other important locations. A mobile end-user device would then receive the Bluetooth signals and convert them as necessary onto the display or sound information, according to the needs of the user. Also being considered is that the information for the specific location could be edited by the operator via a website and updated as needed. Further, all users will get the chance to comment and rate the offerings, via the Internet.
The scientists do admit that similar systems already exist. “Talking Points” is however the first service to use Bluetooth technology, broadcasting to non-seeing and seeing users alike, and allowing the user to be served entirely via speech, and allowing user generated content to be collected.
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.
11880.com now with ratings from other portals
As of January this year 11880.com has been offering its users the chance to read ratings gathered from other providers or to deliver their own ratings (see our post). This Web2.0 feature has now been further expanded.
To this end, this information portal is collaborating with other portals and has combined the gathered ratings into its own web presence. A post in the company blog lists the partners in this enterprise as the information and ratings platform for drivers Autoplenum.de, the patient portal DocInsider.de, as well as gastronomy sites Hotel.de and Restaurant-Kritik.de.
Through this cooperation, the blog post states that there are at present over 80,000 ratings to be found on 11880.com. The company plans to broaden its partner base in the future.
