Posts Tagged ‘web2.0’
golocal mit neuer Startseite
19 Jun. 2009 | Author: AWo |
Die lokale Such- und Bewertungsplattform golocal hat kürzlich neben einer umgestalteten Startseite auch ein paar neue Funktionen erhalten.
Laut einer Pressemitteilung zeigt die jetzt im Stile eines Magazins gestaltete Startseite dem Nutzer auf einen Blick alle Highlights aus zwölf Kategorien in seiner und jeder anderen beliebigen deutschen Stadt. Zudem finde man darauf unter anderem auch aktuelle Events, die neuesten Bewertungen oder die aktivsten User der jeweiligen Ortschaft.
Eine weitere neue Funktion sei das “Stöbern in Deinen Nachbarorten”. Automatisch zeige golocal dabei eine Auswahl an Orten im Umkreis von 30 Kilometern der eingegebenen Stadt an. Überdies sollen registrierte golocal-User ab sofort auf einen Blick sehen können, wer noch im selben Ort als “Local” aktiv ist, und schneller und einfacher als bisher Kontakt zu anderen Mitgliedern aufnehmen können.
Google: Ergebnisse individuell anpassen
22 May. 2009 | Author: AWo |
Im November vergangenen Jahres war das Google-Feature SearchWiki in den USA gestartet, seit Ende April steht diese Web2.0-Funktion auch den Usern der deutschen Ausgabe der Websuche zur Verfügung.
In einer Pressemitteilung erklärt der Suchmaschinenriese den neuen Dienst. SearchWiki – mitunter auf der Webseite auch als Such-Wiki bezeichnet – erlaubt es den Nutzern demnach, nun selbst Hand an die Ergebnisse ihrer Suchanfragen zu legen und die Treffer nach ihrem eigenen Geschmack zu sortieren. Das heißt, die User können damit beispielsweise Ergebnisse neu ordnen, indem sie für sie wichtige Resultate an die Spitze ihrer Ergebnisliste setzen oder für sie unrelevante ausblenden. Außerdem können sie jeden Treffer kommentieren und fehlende Internetseiten hinzufügen.
Um diese Änderungen vorzunehmen, muss man allerdings über ein Google-Konto verfügen und angemeldet sein. Dann kann man seine Einstellungen auch mit anderen Nutzern teilen und im Gegenzug dazu über den Link „Alle Einträge für dieses Such-Wiki anzeigen“ auch deren Empfehlungen für die eigene Recherche nutzen, kommentieren und bewerten. Auch später ist es möglich, über „Alle meine Such-Wiki Einträge anzeigen“ auf die individuellen Ergebnisse zurückzugreifen. Hier lassen sich sämtliche Änderungen und Kommentare jederzeit erneut bearbeiten oder rückgängig machen.
Posted in New Search Machine Interest, News, Practical features | 
Tags: Ergebnisliste, Google, individuelle Ergebnisse, SearchWiki, Such-Wiki, Treffer bearbeiten, web2.0 | 
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Yelp: companies can now answer their critics
The USA ratings portal Yelp, still only represented in English (see our post), plan to offer the possibility for companies to respond to user criticism/comments.
This was recently reported in The New York Times newspaper. Businesses may use this new response feature in order to correct facts, or to report that/how they have been able to correct perceived problems. Advertising or personal attacks will not be possible. Yelp does not intend to monitor these responses once they are published. However if a user regards a business response as inappropriate, they will be able to flag this response for the Yelp-team for their examination.
Until recently, companies were only able to respond to user criticism/comment via e-mail, and in the case of negative ratings, to hope that the direct contact would favorably influence the user’s opinion and their resultant rating of the service offered. The new function, which according to the NYT is to launch imminently, should give more transparency and afford a more public dialogue.
Posted in General, Local Search per PC, Local Search, News, Practical features |
Tags: Beurteilungen, Bewertungsen, Bewertungsplattform, Bewertungsplattformen, Bewertungsportal, Kommentare, lokale Informationen, Stellungnahme, Unternehmen, User Generated Content, User-Bewertungen, web2.0, yelp, Local Search |
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The end of Wikia Search
For somewhat over a year the Web 2.0 search engine Wikia Search was launched (see our report). The hoped-for success did not materialize, and the service has been abandoned.
This was announced by Jimi Wales, one of the founders of Wikia Search and Wikipedia, in his blog, where he explained this decision. The community search just didn’t live up to expectations. In other economic times, financing for the project could potentially have been realized, but it was decided to concentrate on other projects such as Wikianswers.
Posted in Web Communities, World Wide Web, General, New Search Machine Interest, News |
Tags: Jimi Wales, Suchmaschine, web2.0, Web2.0-Suchmaschine, Wikia Search, Wikianswers, Wikipedia |
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All-round changes at Qype
The makers of Qype have redesigned their local search and ratings platform. The completely revamped version went online at the end of February 2009.
First impressions of the ‘new’ Qype center on the visual changes on the site. Instead of the familiar olive and orange color scheme, the page is predominantly in bright red, blue and grey. Further there is a new logo and slogan. As explained by Community Manager Stephan ‘Moe’ Mosel in a blog post, the new slogan “Entdecken, Empfehlen” [en=Discover, recommend] (previously “Das Beste der Stadt” [en=The best of the city]) should bring home the goal of the site in just two words. The new logo, in handwriting style, is seen to represent the community aspect.
Along with the purely aesthetic changes, the website displays a completely reworked structure and several new functions. For example the central tab menu (formerly places, Guides, Groups, etc.) has disappeared. In its place, the horizontal navigation bar now displays special categories such as “Eating and Drinking”, “Shopping”, or “Nightlife”. As a result, the Search function now has become more prominent. The new trick is that users can now self configure this navigation bar: under “Alles” [en=all] you can find many categories to choose from. The links to Guides, Groups and People are now found to the right, below this nav bar, in the new module “Mein Verlauf” [en=my progress]. This keeps the user-specific activities clearly separated from the rest of the page.
Further, in another press release, Qype has also concentrated more on the regional aspects of its offering. In the new version, search requests are now possible for specific city parts. This is not fully implemented, at least when we ran our own tests, which were not altogether satisfying.
Create websites using Brownbook
Since mid December 2008, the UK-based local search and ratings portal Brownbook (see our post) has been offering companies the possibility of implementing up their own web presences.
The reason: there are still countless small and medium-sized undertakings without their own websites. This new feature was discussed in a recent press release. According to the operators, the feature “Web Site Creator” is easy to use. Within a couple of minutes, one can set up and design one’s own Internet portal. How this is achieved can be seen in a short video, as described in the company blog by Brownbook co-founder Marc Lyne.
This new service is however not free – Lyne announced a price of US $98 per year. Everything is all-inclusive, including hosting fees. Clients can post unrestricted numbers of pages, and updates are also included.
Google Maps becomes a translator
Recently Google Maps added an automatic translation function for ratings that were written in a different language to that of the user.
This new feature is accessible after a search, in the left results list or on the overview page of the found companies (“More info”) under “Ratings”, called “Translate ratings”. This is most practical, for example, when preparing/researching a foreign journey. Most ratings are usually posted in the language of the respective countries. However, the delivered automatic translations are often quite idiosyncratic, but all-in-all the reader can usually get the gist of the original rating.
The new function is to be found in numerous localized Google Maps editions. Alongside the German and North American versions, it can also be found, for example, in the Italian, French, Russian and Spanish Google localized searches.
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.
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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Live Search Maps now with 360º views
The US-edition of Live Search Maps is now offering its users panorama and 3D-views, of cities, street views or buildings.
Microsoft has equipped its local search service with the Web2.0 photo tool Photosynth, with which users can assemble three-dimensional views using a collage of ‘normal’ photos. Whoever uploads photos with location-details, will facilitate these images being searchable through Live Search Maps. This recent addition was announced by Microsoft employee Chris Pendleton in his blog.
Find thing the new feature is however like a needle in a haystack – it is found after a search, in the left hand menu, under ‘Explore Collections/Show/Photosynth (per link or icon). Once discovered, a list appears showing all available Photosynth images – the geo-locations of which are displayed on the map. As these images are not embedded in Live Search Maps, users must have the Photosynth software installed on their computers. (Note, at the time of writing, the software was only available for the Windows platform).
Although this application is at present only accessible through the English-language edition of Live Search Maps, one is able to access various locations in other countries, including some in Germany, via this version of LSM.
