We’ve just made the “Places” screen smarter!
We’ve made some changes in the way we list venues in the “Places” screen of our mobile apps and API. The problem with smart phones is that they’re good – but not great – at knowing exactly where you are. Also, there might be a lot of venues nearby that you are very unlikely to check into (like someone else’s apartment — which is great for them but not so much for you) that clutter up the list a little, and sometimes push the venue you want off the list altogether.
So in recent weeks we’ve been working on ways to bubble the best venues up to the top of the “Nearby” list. We consider things like the popularity of each venue, its distance from you (of course), and some neat effects like category and the current time — for example, at 8am you’re more likely to check into a coffee shop, but at 8pm bars and restaurants are more popular. We have sophisticated algorithms that balance all of these factors to present you the best possible list of venues so that you spend less time searching and more time enjoying wherever you’ve checked in.
Anyway, we’d love to hear your feedback on how the the new Places list seems to be working for you. And stay tuned… lots more good stuff in the works.
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