Google Places is continuing to evolve and keeping abreast of it can be difficult. With the local/mobile search market continually expanding, it is clear Google is positioning its Places function to be the leading local/mobile search service. Just do a simple location-based search and see how dominant the Place page results are!
As an add-on to their already prominent Places offering, Google earlier this year released 'Hotpot'. The Hotpot service is designed to bring social elements into the local search market. The Hotpot service provides a portal in which users (when signed into a Google account) can review and rate businesses in their local areas, in addition to viewing their friends' opinions and reviews.
When Hotpot is used, this then affects the Google Places listings, as results are organised by:
• User preferences - Businesses that the user has liked will appear higher in the list
• Recommendations - The more a user reviews businesses through Hotpot, the more Google will be able to recommend and suggest business based on the user's preferences
• Friends' results - Because friends' ratings and reviews are also displayed, these will also affect the user's interaction with Place pages
How does this change local business marketing in Google Places?
Google Hotpot may not be wildly successful yet (and Google hasn't exactly got the best track record with recent product launches - Wave, Buzz anyone?), but it is certainly something worth watching over the next twelve months.
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