Google May Not Have Bought Yelp, But They Sure Are Trying To Own Them With Places
July 26, 2010 at 14:21 PM EDT
Perhaps you recall that late last year, Google was in discussions to buy Yelp . Despite a supposed offer of $550 million plus earn-outs, Yelp walked away from the deal . But that isn't stopping Google for entering Yelp's business. Today, Google continues their fast-moving assault on local and location with a revamped Google Maps for mobile . Central to Maps for mobile 4.4 is Google Places, the newer component of Maps which shows you, you guessed it, places nearby. But it's much more than just another layer in Google Maps, with this release on every Android phone (1.6 and later), there will now be a dedicated Places icon that appears in the Android app launcher. So yes, Google just basically gave Places its own new app.