• Search Engine Land
  • Sections
    • SEO
    • SEM
    • Local
    • Retail
    • Google
    • Bing
    • Social
    • Resources
    • More
    • Home
  • Search Engine Land
  • SEO
  • SEM
  • Local
  • Retail
  • Google
  • Bing
  • Social
  • Resources
  • Live
  • More
  • Events
  • SUBSCRIBE

Search Engine Land

Search Engine Land
  • SEO
  • SEM
  • Local
  • Retail
  • Google
  • Bing
  • Social
  • Resources
  • More
  • Newsletters
  • Home
Local

Facebook Launches New Places Directory

Facebook has launched a new Places Directory, which is really an emerging local search site. Right now, it’s more accurately like “guided browsing.” It was first brought to our attention by Matteo Gamba. The new Places mixes up Graph Search, the Page Locations API and other elements to make the directory a worthy supplement for […]

Greg Sterling on November 12, 2014 at 1:05 pm
  • More
facebook-local3-ss-1920

Facebook has launched a new Places Directory, which is really an emerging local search site. Right now, it’s more accurately like “guided browsing.” It was first brought to our attention by Matteo Gamba.

The new Places mixes up Graph Search, the Page Locations API and other elements to make the directory a worthy supplement for some of your favorite local search and travel sites. It’s not quite yet a genuine substitute.

This also comes amid a revamping of local business Pages to put reviews front and center.

Facebook reviews

The new directory invites a Place lookup by city name or other place name. The search box doesn’t respond to all queries and even common local queries. For example, “best sushi London” doesn’t deliver any results. In my tests I also couldn’t look up individual businesses that I knew had Facebook Pages.

Over time this will probably change as Graph Search evolves.

Facebook Places

Once in an specific location, users can select from among a list of standard categories: Restaurants, Hotels, Bars, Cafes, Attractions, Arts & Entertainment and others. Each category in turn yields lists of results, which appear to be ranked by ratings and network affinity to the user.

Facebook Places Facebook Places

There are also additional social tools in the right margin to further filter results in a category. This filtering is not as “robust,” for example, as on a hotel site that provides a wide range of narrowing options to users.

Facebook Places

When users drill down to the level of an individual business location you’re shown the business Page, which offers a reviews tab (as in the example above). There star ratings and user comments are visible. Though helpful and valuable, right now this content isn’t as complete or easy to consume as on Yelp or TripAdvisor for example.

There are multiple things Facebook can do to make these pages more useful. And as I mentioned elsewhere I think this is all a prelude to a Places app for smartphones. Interestingly, however, there’s no comparable mobile experience yet.

Within the current Facebook app you can see “nearby places” but this isn’t the same as what’s available through the new Places directory. Nor can you search for “New York Hotels” in the mobile app and get the same content as in the Places directory right now.

Facebook nearby places

I would expect Facebook to rectify this relatively soon. The company knows that the dominant use case for its Places directory is ultimately mobile.

Still the new directory is a big step in the direction of local search, which has long been a very logical and even necessary step for Facebook as it seeks to provide more utility to users and bring more local business owners into the advertiser column.

Postscript: Facebook indicated to me in email that this actually rolled out in July and was just noticed. When users are signed out they have access to publicly available information about cities, including publicly shared photos, reviews and posts. However results are customized for those who are logged in.


Opinions expressed in this article are those of the guest author and not necessarily Search Engine Land. Staff authors are listed here.



About The Author

Greg Sterling
Greg Sterling is a Contributing Editor to Search Engine Land, a member of the programming team for SMX events and the VP, Market Insights at Uberall.

Related Topics

Channel: LocalFacebookFacebook: Facebook SearchFacebook: Places

We're listening.

Have something to say about this article? Share it with us on Facebook, Twitter or our LinkedIn Group.

Get the daily newsletter search marketers rely on.

Processing...Please wait.

See terms.

ATTEND OUR EVENTS

Lorem ipsum doler this is promo text about SMX events.

Available On-Demand: SMX Create

May 18-19, 2021: SMX London

June 8-9, 2021: SMX Paris

June 15-16, 2021: SMX Advanced

June 21-22, 2021: SMX Advanced Europe

August 17, 2021: SMX Convert

November 9-10, 2021: SMX Next

December 14, 2021: SMX Code

Available On-Demand: SMX

Available On-Demand: SMX Report

×


Learn More About Our SMX Events

Discover actionable tactics that can help you overcome crucial marketing challenges. Our next conference will be held:

Next Event: Sept. 14-15, 2021

Available On-Demand: March 2021

Available On-Demand: October 2020

×

Attend MarTech - Click Here


Learn More About Our MarTech Events

White Papers

  • Gartner Magic Quadrant for Digital Experience Platforms
  • Selecting a Customer Data Platform For Your Organization: The 2020 Gartner Market Guide
  • The Complete Guide to Web Core Vitals
  • The New Era of Automation in SEO
  • Nielsen Annual Marketing Report: Era of Adaptation
See More Whitepapers

Webinars

  • Drive Customer Engagement with the Power of Personalization
  • 7 Use Cases That Prove Why You Should Implement DAM
  • Accelerate Your SEO & Content Marketing Program with 4 Key Milestones
See More Webinars

Research Reports

  • Local Marketing Solutions for Multi-Location Businesses
  • Enterprise Digital Asset Management Platforms
  • Identity Resolution Platforms
  • Customer Data Platforms
  • B2B Marketing Automation Platforms
  • Call Analytics Platforms
See More Research

Attend SMX For Only $199

h
Receive daily search news and analysis.

Channels

  • SEO
  • SEM
  • Local
  • Retail
  • Google
  • Bing
  • Social

Our Events

  • SMX
  • MarTech

Resources

  • White Papers
  • Research
  • Webinars

About

  • About Us
  • Contact
  • Privacy
  • Marketing Opportunities
  • Staff

Follow Us

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Newsletters
  • RSS
  • Youtube

© 2021 Third Door Media, Inc. All rights reserved.

Your privacy means the world to us. We share your personal information only when you give us explicit permission to do so, and confirm we have your permission each time. Learn more by viewing our privacy policy.Ok