Google Places app for Apple's iPhone lets users filter results by distance, ratings and price, as well as whether or not not a business is open.
Fewer Google
(NASDAQ:GOOG) Web services outside of the Chrome Web browser have been upgraded
this year more than Google Places, the company's local search service.
Google just acquired Zagat to beef up restaurant reviews for
Places, which pairs local business information, such as address,
telephone numbers, hours of operation and reviews with the concern's location
on Google Maps.
But Google
can't ignore its Places mobile Android and iPhone applications. With a combined
70 percent market share, Android and iPhone are the key conduits through which
consumers looking for businesses nearby will access Places.
To wit,
Google just upgraded its Places application for the iPhone
to version 1.2.1, allowing mobile users to filter search results by
distance, rating and price; filter places; and see open hours and read full
reviews by Google users.
This is a big
deal in helping
iPhone users not only find local restaurants,
coffee shops and other businesses, but also make decisions about which ones to
visit.
After all,
it's one thing to list a "place," but it doesn't help if it's too far
by walking distance or car, and certainly not useful if the bar a user wants to
check out isn't open.
In time, users
may expect the Places mobile applications for Android and iPhone to get even
more granular. The applications will flash local deals from Google Offers from
cities all over the U.S.; recommend what the best dishes are at eateries and the
coffee types at cafes; and even suggest places based on ambience.
ReadWriteWeb's Marshall Kirkpatrick expects Places
to incorporate Google+ content to let users share info on businesses with each
other. That should further fortify the application's recommendation engine.
In the
meantime, users may
download the Places application for iPhone 1.2.1 free here.
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