This is not exactly Hot off the press news but it is important to your local business :
In the mobile world, reviews of business establishments are just a click or two away. Now, Google has released an official Google Places app for the iPhone/iPod touch. Users can rate local restaurants, bars, and other attractions, or read what others have to say.
According to its developers, the app “helps you find places near where you are, (and) it gives you the best places to go for you by personalizing your search results.”
Using your iPhone’s GPS, the app determines where you are right now. This makes it easy to rate an establishment before you even head out. The more reviews you make, the better the recommendations you will receive.
The app is tied directly to the Google Hotpot website, which is located at google.com/hotpot. Here you can add your list of friends and begin rating places you already know. In time, Google Places will know more about you (and your friends) and offer you better recommendations.
The Google Places app works fine, but it is just one of many in an already crowded field. Yelp! and foursquare offer similar apps and both have been around for quite a while now. You begin to wonder if the market really needs another way for us to rate an attraction and tell the world about it.
The free Google Places app is available today in the App Store.
Local Biz 