BeanPool Social Local Search & User Reviews
BeanPool.com, a new social media & community driven local business search engine was launched today and enters a market cornered by Yahoo and also including Yelp, Amazon, BackFence and InsiderPages. In beta release, BeanPool is focusing on the metropolitan Atlanta area.
I used BeanPool, which Greg Sterling of the Kelsey Group and I both think looks a heck of a lot like Blogger, to search for my favorite bar in Atlanta, American Pie (actually named that before Stiffler became a household name). No reviews yet, but I’d expect like BackFence is doing in Washington DC suburbs, BeanPool will be conducting some heavy marketing in Hotlanta. By the way, Greg thinks BeanPool may have been built using Blogger, I’m not so sure on that but after performing some searches I do see that BeanPool is using Google Analytics for site stats, referrals and user path tracking.
“We believe there is a real need for consumers to have the best information at their fingertips when selecting a local service provider,” said Mat Grell, president and co-founder of BeanPool. “Currently, when consumers are looking to purchase services from a local business they typically refer to their yellow pages book, coupon mailers or direct mail advertisements. These types of media do not provide the consumer with any information on the quality or satisfaction of these businesses. As a consumer, I want this information before I make a buying decision.”
BeanPool offers members the ability to find local businesses that are recommended, or not recommended by the people they trust – friends, neighbors and community members.
When members invite their friends to join BeanPool they are able to view all business reviews made by their friends.
BeanPool says that “A key feature of BeanPool is that consumers have the ability to view business recommendations based on demographics such as metro area, city, zip code, friends of friends, or just friends.”
In an effort to boost membership BeanPool is currently offering its members a $5.00 Gift Certificate from Amazon.com. Entrants will need to write 5 separate business reviews and become a BeanPool member to receive the Gift Certificate.
