Google Hotpot Starts Competing with Local Reviews

As I was exploring some of the changes that Google has been making with their search results page recently, I noticed a new service that is now integrated with Google’s local results where users can rate and review the places featured. It’s called Google Hotpot (is that really the best name you could come up with?) and to me it’s competing directly with similar review sites like Yelp!

The Hot Pot features seem to be just an extension of the existing Google Places controls for business owners. Google will still integrate related reviews from other sites, but they now also provide a special rating category by Google users.

Nowhere near the number of features and expanded content and community of Yelp, or similar, but definitely a start for them.

You can follow what Google Hot Pot is up to on their twitter account too: @GoogleHotPot