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Thursday, August 9. 2007
Local Reviews Wrap Up
While Google is
collecting street map data of Vietnam in order to launch local mapping
service end of this year, some local reviews sites are live to catch up
the Web 2.0 boom.
The New Hanoian could be the first one of this kind and make you
think of VIR Time Out online version. Targeting expats in Hanoi, with
simple layout and looks as old as ancient quarter of Hanoi. Users can
find locations with simple Google Maps custom layer. Some SNS features:
profile, comment, rating.
Shiva - Hanoi city portal is adding HCM City map
data with its own mapping engine. With English and Vietnamese version,
both expats and Vietnameses can easily find good local services.
Although Shiva had built the service with its self developed mapping, it
still did not put users (members) at the center. Not easy to navigate,
lack of social connection. Young local people would think the site is
for travellers than for local community.
Thodia.vn, the new kid on the block, is a Yahoo Local clone. Only Vietnamese
available, targets young party people in HCM City. It developed Flash
mapping exactly the same with Yahoo
Flash Maps. Full social networking features, clean layout, but still
missing something to stick members together.
Vnnavi.com focuses mainly on restaurants, drinks with three
language support: Vietnamese, English and Japanese. Its look like a
dining listing service rather than a local reviews. Although it has
Google Maps local layer for finding locations, it has large number of
staff to review the restaurants (with prior agreement with the owners).
There is no user profile but a vBulletin forum to discuss eating habits
and other interests.
My advice: If you have your own mapping solutions, it is an advantage not to pay Google Maps or Yahoo Maps (and Microsoft Maps also) for enterprise API. For these kind of services to be competitive, put social networking features first, develop your community. Otherwise your service is just a paving stone for the giants entering the market.
The New Hanoian could be the first one of this kind and make you
think of VIR Time Out online version. Targeting expats in Hanoi, with
simple layout and looks as old as ancient quarter of Hanoi. Users can
find locations with simple Google Maps custom layer. Some SNS features:
profile, comment, rating.Shiva - Hanoi city portal is adding HCM City map
data with its own mapping engine. With English and Vietnamese version,
both expats and Vietnameses can easily find good local services.
Although Shiva had built the service with its self developed mapping, it
still did not put users (members) at the center. Not easy to navigate,
lack of social connection. Young local people would think the site is
for travellers than for local community.Thodia.vn, the new kid on the block, is a Yahoo Local clone. Only Vietnamese
available, targets young party people in HCM City. It developed Flash
mapping exactly the same with Yahoo
Flash Maps. Full social networking features, clean layout, but still
missing something to stick members together.Vnnavi.com focuses mainly on restaurants, drinks with three
language support: Vietnamese, English and Japanese. Its look like a
dining listing service rather than a local reviews. Although it has
Google Maps local layer for finding locations, it has large number of
staff to review the restaurants (with prior agreement with the owners).
There is no user profile but a vBulletin forum to discuss eating habits
and other interests.My advice: If you have your own mapping solutions, it is an advantage not to pay Google Maps or Yahoo Maps (and Microsoft Maps also) for enterprise API. For these kind of services to be competitive, put social networking features first, develop your community. Otherwise your service is just a paving stone for the giants entering the market.
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Can you tell me more why we should use ourself map not using google map
or yahoo map .... for competition advantage purpose?
thanks for your advice.
It depends on your strategy. If it is just a simple mashup, go with
Google or Yahoo Maps, but if it is a large scale service you should
think of contracting mapping engine. I mean the two services above
(Shiva & Thodia) have their own mapping engine, they do not have to
be dependent on the giant. Google can put ads on maps whenever you
reached a large base of users while you did not have specific terms with
Google. Mapping engine is only one tool, use it wisely with social
networking features to obtain best user experience.
Hi, just a note from the New Hanoian to say that more SNS features are
in the works, and to ask if you have a link to the news about Google
Maps coming to VN?
Thanks,
Tom
hi, can you explore this website: http://www.vietbando.com.vn i thinks
it can be a local review website for web 2.0 as well, i fond that it
using Google map component for asp.net, so that it doesn't depend on
giant (Google and Yahoo)?.
Vietbando is a sort of online mapping service rather than local reviews,
it should compete directly with the giants: Google Maps, Yahoo Maps, MS
Virtual and other local mapping services.
Hi, I know one more kind of local search, it's http://www.izomi.com with
its own map engine. It's quite fast and good
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