MySpace adding Citysearch local night life reviews

March 31, 2009 MySpace said Tuesday it is teaming up with merchant guide Citysearch

MySpace said Tuesday it is teaming up with merchant guide Citysearch to let users of the social-networking service share reviews of local restaurants and bars.

MySpace said Tuesday it is teaming up with merchant guide Citysearch to let users of the social-networking service share reviews of local restaurants and bars.

MySpace Local will go public in the United States after a few weeks of private testing by employees and selected members of the online community.

"We like to call it a social directory," said MySpace vice president of product management Chris Blandy.

"We are taking the rich, deep content Citysearch has built up over the years, ingesting all that content into our pages and adding all the social-networking capabilities."

Citysearch lets people rate and review local businesses online.

Citysearch pages also provide information such as business addresses, telephone numbers, hours of operation, and, in the case of eateries, copies of menus.

Any visitors to MySpace will be able to read reviews, but only social-networking community members will be able to rate or comment on businesses listed in Citysearch

News Corp-owned MySpace will automatically let members know when their friends have posted Citysearch comments or reviews.

"The friend updates and the recommendation alert on the home page are the primary ways we expect users to engage," Blandy said. "That is the key to this social-discovery concept."

MySpace expects to make money from online ads and sponsored links, and has negotiated a revenue-sharing deal with Citysearch.

MySpace Local will start with restaurants, bars and night life but eventually expand to include more categories, such as doctors, dentists, hotels, travel, and lawyers.

"The traditional model is where an editor picks something to review and then shouts to the masses," Blandy said. "We find our users are very interested in what their friends have to say."

MySpace Local is to be rolled out globally over time.

Rate this story - 1 /5 (1 vote)

rank
1
2
3
4
5

view popular

Other News

Canadian woman loses benefits over Facebook photo

Technology / Internet

16 hours ago | 5 / 5 (3) | 0

(AP) -- A Canadian woman on long-term sick leave for depression says she lost her benefits because her insurance agent found photos of her on Facebook in which she appeared to be having fun.

Newspaper circulation may be worse than it looks

Technology / Internet

15 hours ago | not rated yet | 0

(AP) -- While U.S. newspapers are losing subscribers at a staggering rate, a few dailies stand out because their circulation is rising. But they aren't necessarily selling more copies.

Analysts say AmEx is most interested in the so-called peer-to-peer services of Revolution

American Express takes aim at PayPal with Revolution

Technology / Internet

22 hours ago | 4.5 / 5 (2) | 1

With its deal to buy Revolution Money, American Express is taking aim at the growing market for online and alternative payments, in a challenge to recognized leader PayPal, analysts say.

Hackers leak e-mails, stoke climate debate

Technology / Internet

Nov 21, 2009 | 4.3 / 5 (35) | 29

(AP) -- Computer hackers have broken into a server at a well-respected climate change research center in Britain and posted hundreds of private e-mails and documents online - stoking debate over whether some scientists have ...

Pulling the plug on hybrid myths

Technology / Energy

Nov 19, 2009 | 3.8 / 5 (15) | 24

(PhysOrg.com) -- Whether you call them myths, urban legends, fables or old wives' tales, there's a lot of misinformation out there about plug-in electric hybrid vehicles. These vehicles, abbreviated PHEVs, ...