Enriching its social offering, Google has rolled out yet another major feature for its social networking site, Google+ Local, a simple way to discover and share local information featuring Zagat scores and recommendations from people users trust in Google+. By this launch Google has completely replaced Google Places by the new Google+ Local pages. That’s roughly 80 million Places local information converted to Google+ Local pages.
Google+ Local allows users to share and find local information about nearby places. Like if i searched for “hotels near bangalore,Karnataka, India” Google+ Local brings in the best hotels available in that location with reviews, rating, Zagat scores, operating hours, address details, rates, map location etc. Google+ Local has been fully integrated into Search, Maps and mobile and also available as a new tab in Google+ named ‘Local‘ creating one simple experience across any Google property.
Google has been fully utilizing its recent acquisition of Zagat, which offered high-quality reviews, based on user-written submissions and surveys, of tens of thousands of places for more than three decades. All of Zagat’s accurate scores and summaries are now highlighted on Google+ local pages.
Each local place seen om Google+ Local will now be scored using Zagat’s 30-point scale, which tells users all about the various aspects of a place. For example, a restaurant that has great food but not great decor might be 4 stars, but with Zagat you’d see a 26 in Food and an 8 in Decor, and know that it might not be the best place for date night.Learn more about the Google Zagat’s 30-point scale through this video –
When logged in to Google+ users will get recommendation, reviews and suggestions from their trusted friend. They can also share opinions and upload photos. These reviews and photos will help their friends when they’re checking out a place, and are also integrated into the aggregate score that other people see. The more you contribute, the more helpful Google+ Local will be for your friends, family and everyone else. When not logged in to Google, users will only get Zagat reviews and recommendations popup without any friends activity.
Google+Local pages are also provides extra benefits to business owners. Business owners can add or manage their local listing information via Google Places for Business and add up social features. Some added benefits for Business owners include –
- Simplified user experience for customers through new design and layout
- Made easy for customers to find, rate and share business properties.
- Complete integration of Zagat reviews
- Easy managing through Google Places for Business
- Added more social features to extend the social experiences
“With the release of Google+ Local, rolling out today, we are bringing the community of Google+ to local business owners around the world. We aim to improve the way people discover new businesses, rediscover places they love, and share them with their friends across the web” said Jen Fitzpatrick, VP Engineering at Google and Your Business Blog.
What do you think about this integration of Google Places to Google+ Local?