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Google Places Put Focus On Original Reviews

Third-party sources of reviews like Yelp and TripAdviser have long complained that Google was building Google Places on the backs of their content, while at the same time trying to replace them. As TechCrunch reports, however, said sources will now be happy to see that Google Places has transitioned to reviews written by Google users themselves.

"Now Google Places no longer shows those reviews on Places pages for a specific venue, nor does it count them in the total number of reviews which it shows for each place," TechCrunch writes. "Instead, it links to the reviews from sites like Yelp, Zagat, and Citysearch separately -- and breaks out total review counts for each site."

Why the change? "Well, after using reviews from other sites as a placeholder until now, Google Places now seems to have enough of its own reviews to stand on its own two feet, especially after incorporating Hotpot."

Read the whole story at TechCrunch »

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