Google Adds End User Offers Signup to Google.com/Portland

Portland has been a keystone city in Google’s Hotspot Hotpot Places marketing efforts. They inundated Portland businesses and individuals with high visibility ads, marketing, schwag and high profile sponsorships. We don’t know the number of additional claimed Places listings but we do know that it lead to a dramatic uptick in their ratings and reviews, …

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Google Places Schwag, Schwag and More Schwag in More Places

The Google Places with Hotpot promotion that started in Portland in December, 2010 is now ongoing in four additional cities: Austin, Las Vegas, Madison and Charlotte. As a part of the promotion, any business in any of those cities that claims their listing is eligible for a business kit that includes Google bling. Apparently several …

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Google Still Advertising HotPot

Google Hotpot was discontinued as a distinct product line last week. It was merged into Places and the Hotpot brand was summarily executed. Apparently the folks promoting it on Adwords have not yet been informed of the change. I saw this ad today.

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Google Places Tidbits

This in from frequent contributor Plamen. Google has shifted their current “Offers” down on the Places Page to the bottom of the Page. Plamen speculates its perhaps to make room for paid offers higher up the page. Google has in the past noted that they are continually testing page content and moving down and out …

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Google Pushing HotPot to the Big Leagues

Google announced last night that Hotpot friend recommendations are now showing on the main Google search results in the 7-pack. They are also showing in the local organic blended results and branded searches. Google is working on social tools on a number of fronts more or less successfully. You can never count them out though …

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Interview with Lior Ron, Hotpot Product Manager

Last week in This Week in Startups, Jason Calcanis had a great interview with Lior Ron (who like hotpot has his name backwards 🙂 ),the product manager for Google Hotpot. The interview is interesting, gives insight to the technology and Google’s thinking about its role going forward and its relationship to personalized search. The interview …

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How Long Has Marissa M Been Testing Hotspot?

Gary Danko, is not the sort of restaurant that I would typically eat at, not that I wouldn’t like to try it one day. Dinners run towards $200/ head. While, it is unlikely I ever will eat there, the many, many reviews provide for some interesting reading. Amrita – Aug 12, 2010 The seared foie gras is …

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Google Hotspot Influence Rolling Across All of Google Local

We continue to learn about changes across all of Google local products as Hotspot is further integrated into the rating and review process. Lat Long Blog points out that Places will now include a new section highlighting recommendations from friends: I noted in Rating are the new Reviews that Google was now allowing rating in …

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Google Places: Are Ratings the New Reviews?

If likes are the new links then ratings are the new reviews. At least as far as Google is concerned as they continue to integrate elements from Hotpot into Places. I noted the other day that Google was integrating HotSpot friend recommendations in personalized Map results. They are also now including a new rating level …

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Google Places Now Requiring New “Places Profile” For Reviews

Several weeks ago, before, during and after the Hotspot rollout, newly created reviews from reviewers with non-public Google profiles were having their Places reviews filtered. I tested this by writing a number of reviews, over time and many places in a secondary account. All of the reviews were accepted, none were published. Google has now …

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