Click2Connect Launches Social Local Search Tool Offering Personalized Local Business Reviews via Facebook

New Social Local Search Facebook Tool Taps Into Individuals' Facebook Networks to Yield Trusted Reviews


SINGAPORE--(Marketwire - June 2, 2009) - Bringing a deeper level of personalization to social local search, Click2Connect today launched its next-generation social local search web site and Facebook application. The new tool provides access to unique Facebook friends' ratings and reviews of local businesses -- enabling users to search qualified recommendations from friends rather than from the anonymous general population.

"We developed Click2Connect after becoming frustrated with online local business reviews, as there was no way to qualify reviewers' backgrounds and the individual tastes, needs and financial factors that influenced their reviews," said Russell Gain, founder and CEO, Click2Connect. "By narrowing your review pool to friends, family and acquaintances on Facebook, you can quickly find reliable and trustworthy reviews of local businesses. There are no hidden agendas or anonymous reviews."

For each review, users designate themselves as "easy going," "moderately demanding," "demanding," or "connoisseur," -- adding yet another layer of background qualification for the pool of reviews. Users can also view three different overall business ratings (between one and five stars): their individual rating, their network's average rating and the general population's rating.

Users may access Click2Connect either directly from Click2Connect.com or via the Click2Connect Facebook application at http://apps.facebook.com/click_connect/. From Click2Connect.com, users click on the icon to connect with Facebook and begin adding reviews for their favorite merchants. Users may also post their reviews to their Facebook newsfeed to help notify friends about their latest local business recommendations.

In addition, Click2Connect offers a MeetMe feature that allows users to plot two addresses and search for a meeting place in the middle, within a certain distance, then narrow down options by category.

The Click2Connect search platform includes intuitive keywords; for example, a search for "cavity" yields listings results for local dentists. Consumers also have access to online content manager Localeze's business info on more than 16 million local businesses. Click2Connect is one of the first local search companies to use Localeze's new Confidence Score as part of its overall relevancy algorithm. Each business is provided a score based on a proprietary, multi-sourced assessment of the validity and accuracy of its name, phone number, and address.

Click2Connect's initial launch is part of a phased rollout, which will include a Click2Connect Facebook merchant program tied to online reviews, as well as a Click2Connect mobile application that enables users to post on-the-go reviews via a smartphone.

About Click2Connect

Click2Connect is the next generation of social local search -- the only social local search site and Facebook application that provides access to your personal Facebook network's ratings and reviews of local businesses. Delivering relevant and accurate business information on more than 16 million local U.S. businesses, Click2Connect enables users to share their personal reviews of local businesses with their friends, family and acquaintances via Facebook. As distinct and individual tastes, needs and financial factors influence reviews of local businesses, there is no better way to qualify merchants than to read reviews specifically from your social network -- the people you know. For more information, please visit www.click2connect.com

Contact Information: Media Contact: Eve Sheridan Young & Associates 303-637-0886 eves@yapr.com