Now Loopt is leaping into Yelp's territory by making these local reviews available online. Like Yelp, each business has a fresh page, where you can see hours, location (thru a Google Map), ratings, photos and more.
Loopt will total all of the ratings and reviews manufactured by mobile users on the business' page, and web users can also comment on the page, but have to restrict their comments to one hundred and forty characters or less. And Loopt aggregates reviews from pro sources like Zagat, and more user-review targeted sites like City search to further its suggestions on the page (this is also available on its mobile app). All this data has permitted Loopt to form what founder Sam Altman appertains to as a local search engine.
As of now, the pages have limited functionality but Loopt will be adding user generated content and other info immediately. The key part of this venture is that Loopt's internet-based reviews are valuable because users can see which of their mates have visited a certain place or corporation.
Loopt has all this mobile information which shows what folks like, and who they may be hooked up to and this social information adds an additional pressing element to its local reviews site.
While Loopt isn't yet advertising on the site (it does publicize on its mobile apps), I'd expect this to come shortly.
And the start-up collects money from some advertisers who pay them on a per action basis, so Loopt now will see some cash from click throughs. Sadly, Loopt doesn't allow entrepreneurs to create a page themselves, but this might be a feature added in the future. Loopt's founder and Head honcho Sam Altman asserts that it is looking to grab part of the competitive landscape that accommodates Yelp, City search and others. The entire idea of mixing info on where and what users like to do with local lists for companies is great for local merchants and companies, as not only are they able to get detailed info on their demographic, but they can also use the lists as a method to offer discounts and other incentives to visitors. Google even appears to be sniffing around this opportunity, too.
