Introducing the Hotpot Blog

It’s been a big year for places on the web. More than 20 percent of Google searches now have a local intent, and it’s clear that finding information about what’s immediately around you is important. From reading nearby restaurant reviews to locating a good neighborhood hardware store, the web is increasingly becoming a key source of information for many of the decisions and experiences in your everyday life.

With Google Hotpot, we’re excited to take local search to the next level by making it more personal with recommendations powered by you and your friends. So we’ve decided to start a new blog just for you, to share some tips on how to discover places you’ll love. We also want to hear from you to get feedback on what you like, what you dislike and what we should do next. You and the places you love will be front and center, and we encourage you to share your stories with us so we can share them with the world.

To kick things off, we had our first L3 (Location, Location, Location!) meetup at the San Francisco Ferry Building last night. More than 700 guests came together to enjoy great food from local businesses and amazing music from Carlos Jean, one of the world’s best DJs.

So stay tuned to this space and our Twitter channel for updates on Hotpot and join us in discussions about your favorite local places. We may even be coming soon to a place near you!

Posted by Bernardo Hernandez, Hotpot Team