{"id":7714,"date":"2017-04-07T19:21:32","date_gmt":"2017-04-07T19:21:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/fixmyinfo.com\/?p=7714"},"modified":"2017-07-14T15:57:40","modified_gmt":"2017-07-14T15:57:40","slug":"facebook-tests-enhanced-local-search-discovery-feature-offering-business-suggestions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fixmyinfo.com\/facebook-tests-enhanced-local-search-discovery-feature-offering-business-suggestions\/","title":{"rendered":"Facebook tests an enhanced local search and discovery feature offering business suggestions"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Sarah Perez<\/a> for Tech Crunch<\/a><\/p>\n

Facebook is testing an enhanced local search feature that could see the social network creeping in on Google Maps, Foursquare and Yelp territory, TechCrunch learned and Facebook confirmed. Facebook users are now able to surface\u00a0recommendations of nearby places \u2013 like \u201cdinner nearby\u201d or \u201cbars nearby,\u201d for example \u00a0\u2013 by entering a\u00a0query in Facebook\u2019s\u00a0search box on the web or mobile. This returns a box in Facebook\u2019s\u00a0search results that include\u00a0a list of relevant businesses, along with their ratings on Facebook, a map, as well as\u00a0which friends of yours have visited or like the places in question.<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for Facebook confirmed the feature saying, \u201cWe\u2019re testing a new way to discover where to go and what to do around you.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

The company declined to share other information about the addition, including how long the test has been in progress. It\u2019s possible some users have had this option for a much longer time, but\u00a0others are only now gaining access or don\u2019t have it at all, as is standard with Facebook\u2019s tests.<\/p>\n

The feature itself isn\u2019t immediately obvious because the place suggestions aren\u2019t always the first search result. On the web, the map and list of recommendations often show up as you scroll a bit further down, below the results for posts from Groups, links, posts from friends, and Facebook Pages.<\/p>\n

But on mobile, the results are much closer to the top, if not the first item. (It varied depending on the query, in tests.)<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The suggestions themselves are\u00a0in a small box in the search results that includes a pink pin drop icon next to the heading, like \u201cShopping & Retail Nearby\u201d or \u201cPizza Places Nearby\u201d or whatever else you may have searched. Facebook is also prompting these searches via auto-complete suggestions from the search box.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s unclear how Facebook determines which results to show you in the small\u00a0box, as it\u2019s seemingly not number of reviews, rating, or proximity to your current location that\u00a0determines which places are shown first. Nor is it social data \u00a0\u2013 for instance, a place visited by over a dozen friends was returned below\u00a0one visited by just a few.<\/p>\n

Beneath these initial suggestions, you can click \u201cSee all\u201d to be taken to a fuller list.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

In addition to standard information like the business\u2019s name, address, phone number, and photos, Facebook\u00a0displays how many people have rated the business, its star rating, pricing (as measured by one to four dollar signs), whether it\u2019s open now, plus the above-mentioned\u00a0social data about your friends\u2019 visits and likes.<\/p>\n

Facebook is also\u00a0using technology to parse users\u2019 reviews in order to highlight what the business in question is known for, or what people talk about in their reviews.<\/p>\n

For example, a bakery\u2019s review might say that \u201cpeople talk about friendly service, vegan donuts and iced latte.\u201d<\/em> (Nope, Facebook\u2019s tech doesn\u2019t have a grip on proper grammar just yet.)<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Plus, the business listings may have a call-to-action, as they do on their Page \u2013 like \u201cSign Up,\u201d \u201cShop Now\u201d or \u201cCall Now,\u201d for example.<\/p>\n

On the web version of the feature, you can filter the search results by price, places that are currently open, or other social metrics, like \u201cvisited by friends\u201d or \u201cgood for groups.\u201d Restaurants can also be narrowed down by cuisine (pizza, sushi, Chinese, etc.). And you\u00a0can \u201cLike\u201d the business on both web and mobile.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/div>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Facebook is clearly taking advantage of its wealth of data on businesses and social metrics to build out this feature \u2013 an inevitable next step for the business, given the obvious opportunity for search ads.<\/p>\n

This is hardly\u00a0the first time that Facebook has dabbled with serving up local business info, however.<\/p>\n

Way back in 2012,\u00a0Facebook launched Nearby<\/a>, following its acquisition of Foursquare competitor Gowalla. That feature did much of the same thing, and still exists in its present form from the \u201cMore\u201d menu on mobile. The integration of \u201cNearby\u201d\u00a0suggestions in the search results seems more like an iteration on this earlier feature. But it\u00a0adds functionality \u2013 like the calls-to-action and the algorithmically-parsed customer reviews \u2013 which makes it a bit more functional.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Above: Facebook Nearby, circa 2012<\/em><\/p>\n

What\u2019s interesting is that, despite everything Facebook knows about its users, the suggestions were not ranked as well as they could be. For instance, just because a lot of my fellow parents have hosted kids\u2019 birthdays at Chuck E. Cheese, that doesn\u2019t warrant the restaurant from getting top billing in a list of suggested pizza places. It also pushed a lacrosse uniform shop and the teen-focused Hot Topic to the top of its suggestions for \u201cWomen\u2019s Clothing Stores Nearby.\u201d Uh, no.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Above: various filters in the Nearby feature in search<\/em><\/p>\n

Either Facebook isn\u2019t fully tapping into its data to make these\u00a0suggestions, or its data alone is falling short. If the latter, it could use another infusion \u2013 like the data from Foursquare.<\/p>\n

Facebook had\u00a0skipped over Foursquare<\/a> years ago in favor<\/a> of Gowalla. But today\u2019s Foursquare is more powerful than the social check-in app of the past. Its database of locations is integrated into over 100,000 apps (including Snapchat), it offers businesses useful analytical data on foot traffic<\/a>, it partnered with Nielsen to map digital ads<\/a> in order to connect them to real-world traffic and sales, and it just rolled out a push notification-based recommendation engine to developers<\/a>.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not hard to\u00a0imagine how well these features would fit into Facebook given how closely they\u2019re aligned with Facebook\u2019s own goals. But Foursquare\u2019s trouble<\/a> with finding<\/a> an exit<\/a> has always been about its price and valuation.<\/p>\n

In the meantime, Facebook\u2019s existing \u201cNearby\u201d feature and this\u00a0new local search\u00a0addition pale compared with\u00a0what Foursquare, Yelp or Google today offer consumers. It\u2019s handy, I suppose, if you happen to be on Facebook, but it\u2019s not worth launching Facebook for this alone when better options exist.<\/p>\n

Additional reporting: Josh Constine<\/em><\/p>\n

(Image credit, dinner nearby, h\/t:\u00a0Jose\u00a0Gutierrez)\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Sarah Perez for Tech Crunch Facebook is testing an enhanced local search feature that could see the social network creeping in on Google Maps, Foursquare and Yelp territory, TechCrunch learned and Facebook confirmed. Facebook users are now able to surface\u00a0recommendations of nearby places \u2013 like \u201cdinner nearby\u201d or \u201cbars nearby,\u201d for example \u00a0\u2013 by … Read moreFacebook tests an enhanced local search and discovery feature offering business suggestions<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7715,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[39,21,2,42],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/fixmyinfo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/facebook-nearby-ios-min.jpg","yoast_head":"\nFacebook tests an enhanced local search and discovery feature offering business suggestions -<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"local search, listings, seo, online marketing, fix listing, add listing, nap, google local, yahoo local, find business\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" 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