LightPole doesn't think of itself as a search hub, an RSS reader, a mobile apps platform, or a maps source, even though the mobile app, publicly released on Tuesday, is all these things rolled into one.
LightPole's interface is a bit like Viigo's, but instead of hosting various news channels, LightPole (mostly) hosts channels for interactive services, targeting people on the move who are looking for activities around them.
People seeking a nearby hot spot, for example, would open the channel for Hotspotr, which sniffs out W-iFi cafes and other Internet gateways. MappyHour acts similarly for happy hour joints, and Zvents offers listings of local happenings. Perennial favorites Yelp and Yahoo Local are in here, too. LightPole will search your neighborhhood based on your city or postal code, or by using GPS--whether integrated with the phone or as an external device.
Though dealing with divergent channels, LightPole serves up a unified experience, providing both a map view and list view for each search result. People can exert a measure of control over each view, but largely remain passengers. There's the ability to page through options, sort results, share points of interest with a friend, and switch services--from MappyHour to Yelp, for instance--but you'll find no directions engine here. If you follow LightPole's intentions, you'll stick to the adjacent neighborhood and be proficient enough a map-reader to get around.
Saving a point of interest as a favorite leads to the best feature: the catalog of special spots that is your own personalized channel. On LightPole's channel list, it's called My Places. Here you'll find favorites from all partner services gathered in one spot. Best yet, My Places is the only channel that doesn't include an advertising link up top. The location-based advertising model is common for this type of discovery service aggregator, and, as LightPole CEO Doug Klein confirmed, is an ideal framework for serving call-to-action coupons and ads that help businesses attract patrons by proposing a deal.
With its first public release after a year in quiet beta, LightPole's free app looks promising. While not swimming in features, LightPole is fairly easy to use on any Java-enabled phone and delivers reliably predictable results.
With an emphasis on helping content publishers get in front of users, LightPole should also be able to line up more popular partner services. This, along with giving users a degree more control in programming and deleting relevant channels, is crucial as LightPole expands its partner base. While Yelp and Yahoo Local are big wins, other partnerships such as one with The Bathroom Diaries will fall short in shepherding critical mass.
Download LightPole over the air by signing up on www.lightpole.net.
LightPole's navigational secrets
To zoom in while in map mode, press the center key and jog or scroll the center control to the left. Jog it to the right to zoom out. To reset your location, which is represented on a map by a red balloon, pressing the star key (*) will let the balloon follow your navigation to anywhere else on the map. Press the center key again to make the location your new nerve center.
A Canadian start-up is offering a way to do local searches from within AIM or Live Messenger through a free service called Poynt.
Multipled Media's Poynt service lets you search for local businesses and view listings on a map all within the IM window. Last week, the company added the ability to search for movie listings and watch trailers.
Poynt displays local business listings on a map in Windows Live Messenger and AIM.
(Credit: Multiplied Media)It wasn't immediately obvious to me why I would want to do a local search in IM rather than toggle over to a Web browser, and an analyst agreed with me to some extent.
"It addresses a big audience that's using IM and has an instant-messaging window open all the time," said Greg Sterling of Sterling Market Intelligence. "It involves a little bit of a behavior change because people aren't used to doing that through an IM window, but there's an interesting opportunity."
But we both see a lot of potential for Poynt on mobile devices, and toward that end, the company is working to enable it on BlackBerry devices in mid-2008, according to John Lowe, chief executive of Multipled Media. On mobile devices the service will use GPS (Global Positioning System) to set your location.
I gave it a spin on my computer, locating Poynt as a contact on my AIM and Live Messenger services. Once you start communicating with Poynt there are some easy-to-follow commands for using the service. You set your location using a landmark, address, city, or ZIP code.
Then you can choose SuperPages in the U.S. and Yellow Pages in Canada and search by store name or store type, or movies to see current films by theater, genre, or title. You can also see show times, cast listings, and synopsis and search for movies playing on specific dates.
The listings can be displayed on a map that opens up in an adjacent interactive window in Live Messenger (although for some reason that feature wouldn't work for me) or in a separate browser window for AIM.
Multiplied Media aims to make money off sponsored listings and a revenue share from transactions, such as buying tickets online.
The company is working on an Apple widget for the Mac and functionality on the iPhone, as well as something for Facebook. Multiplied Media also plans to add user reviews, possibly through a partnership with a provider like Yelp, Lowe said.
Despite an interoperability agreement between Microsoft's and Yahoo's IM services, the Poynt service won't work on Yahoo Messenger until the company specifically develops the capability. However, both iChat and Gmail use the AIM functionality and so Poynt is available through those interfaces, the company said.
Local search site Grayboxx is launching nationwide late on Tuesday, including all major U.S. cities in its coverage and adding user reviews.
The site, which was reviewed by my colleague at Webware in October, automatically generates business rankings and recommendations inferred from activities of people in a particular neighborhood.
For example, I might make dinner reservations with an online reservation service that shares its anonymous user data in the aggregate with Grayboxx and that action might push the restaurant up higher in the rankings. The listing of a local business in my cell phone contact database could be an implicit endorsement of that business and be reflected on Grayboxx.
Analyst Greg Sterling, of Sterling Market Intelligence, says the site may be onto something, despite entering a crowded local search market. "They've got creative and clever methodology, and now they need to build more content around it."
So, you want to work for Google but you don't have a graduate degree in computer science from an Ivy League school. How about being a Google local search ads sales rep contractor? As such you can earn up to $10 for each business listing that is approved by Google and verified by the business.
According to the FAQ on Google's Web site:
Google offers to pay $10 per listing for contractors who sign up business to advertise on Google Maps
(Credit: Google)"As a Google Business Referral Representative, you'll visit local businesses to collect information (such as hours of operation, types of payment accepted, etc.) for Google Maps, and tell them about Google Maps and Google AdWords. You'll also take a few digital photos of the business that will appear on the Google Maps listing along with the business information.
Asked for more information on the program and whether it is supplementing or replacing a traditional ad sales force, a Google spokeswoman offered a statement that included this comment:
"This program will help people find local information using Google and Google Maps and help businesses take advantage of the Internet even if they don't have a website or online store. This is currently a pilot program intended to help local businesses in the U.S."
Back on the Google Web site the motivational speak is poured on thick:
"All you need to be a successful Business Referral Representative is a passion for helping local businesses succeed, a love for the Internet (some knowledge of Google is great, too), and access to a computer and a digital camera." Oh, and some good walking shoes, possibly a car and plenty of free time.
But don't expect to get any of the benefits or perks that Google employees get, like free food, paid vacation and health insurance.
Now, get out there and sell some ads!
Seattle-based Marchex is launching more than 100,000 Web sites on Wednesday that are designed to serve as online yellow pages for all types of services and covering all of the United States. They also offer targeted ads.
There are more than 15 million business listings across more than 20,000 categories, everything from suntan parlors and auto repair to pest control and baby sitters. Sites run the gamut from the general to the specific based on city and category, such as: www.cuisine.com, www.podiatrist.com, www.dallasdoctors.com and www.90210.com.
Unlike many online business listing sites, the coverage appears to be fairly comprehensive, including both small towns and big cities. For example, there was no listing for locksmith in the small town of Albion, Wash., but there was for nearby Pullman, Wash.
Users can refine their searches, searching for ambiance at hotels, for instance. The sites also offer professional reviews from third parties such as Frommer's and Citysearch, as well as user reviews and a one-click rating system. For hotels and restaurants, computer-generated reviews and rankings compiled into short summaries are culled from multiple sources.
In September, Marchex plans to launch a consumer site that will allow people to go to one site to search for businesses in their locale.
"We want to be one of the leading local online networks," said John Keister, president and chief operating officer at Marchex.
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