Getting Busy with Bizzy, The Social Local Business Recommendation Engine
Launching today is Bizzy's new beta version of their local business recommendation engine. Based in Mountain View, California, Bizzy released their local business search engine in 2009. Now after months of real-time vs. location vs. social search between the new media giants, Bizzy hopes to improve on Yelp and Google searches for favorite places to eat, shop and play.
Bizzy puts it simply on their blog:
Listing and review sites tell you plenty about where you can go, but they can never tell you where you should go. Everyone gets the same answers. The steak-loving cigar aficionado with a massive expense account gets the same results as the vegan girl, fresh out of college and living on a limited budget. When they both search for a place to eat, should they get the same suggestion? No.
For the launch of the new beta version, Bizzy asks users to answer "a quick question and answer game to find out about your favorite local businesses. Your favorites are then mapped to people with similar preferences, creating a basis for Bizzy’s recommendations. Once enough people have shared their favorite places, Bizzy’s algorithm will begin offering you personalized local business recommendations based on the places you consider your favorites. Bizzy will allow you to browse personalized recommendations based on rank, category or trends."
Technorati Tip: Register on Bizzy, answer the 20 questions on the game and be placed on the list for beta invites.
After creating an account and going back to the home page, I answered the Bizzy questions. These questions included queries about your favorite breakfast, lunch, dinner and dessert joints, where you shop, where you hang out and other fun things do in your locale. Then, I was greeted with the following message:
Continued on the next page
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