Foursquare is rolling out its own search engine, called Explore, as the location-based social network looks to expand its audience.
The firm descibed Explore as a product to add “an ‘interesting’ layer to the whole world, tailored just for you.”
In a statement, the firm explained how the search engine would be tailored to each user:
“Most real-world searches are one-size fits all. You search for pizza, and it gives you the same list of pizza places, whether you like deep dish or thin crust, whether you want a slice or a sit-down meal, or whether your friends would love it or hate it. But not with foursquare Explore, because you are your friends’ (along with 1,500,000,000 more from the foursquare community) help us personalize our recommendations for you. Ever you time you check in, we get better at finding places you’ll like.”
The feature is powered by the firm’s always-expanding, massive check-in and tips repository. It even factors in your personal preferences and your friends’ previous activities.
Users can “explore” by browsing through food, coffee, nightlife, shopping, arts and outdoors categories, or by searching for something more specific, like “vegan food,” or something far more ambiguous, say “fun.” The results are ranked by their likelihood to please.
foursquare.com/explore
