Apple Acquires Social Recommendation Service Spotsetter

Apple has acquired Spotsetter, a social search engine designed to offer personalized recommendations on places to visit, reports TechCrunch. The Spotsetter app, which has now been removed from the App Store, offered personal recommendations for "great venues to eat, play, drink, and shop" via existing social networks.

spotsetter
The app integrated with social networks like Facebook to aggregate data on locations recommended by friends, and it included results personalized for an individual's "taste and trust."

Using the app, you could look up any place, category or keyword, then be presented with personalized results, as well as see what your friends had said about the places around you. The app would also highlight which of your friends were experts in a given area, like coffee or shopping or sushi, for example -- and you could tag your friends as experts in order to influence the recommendations. In addition, you could use Spotsetter to discover new places, by browsing the map to see where your friends have been and what they've shared.

The end result was a social search engine built on top of a mapping interface.

Spotsetter announced plans to shut down its app six days ago, but did not give a reason for the removal. Its co-founders, Stephen Tse and Johnny Lee are now listed as Apple employees on LinkedIn, however.

With fondest emotions, I'm announcing that we are closing down Spotsetter app. We still have big dreams for personalized search for places and look forward to seeing great progress in this area. Thank you everyone for your support over the past years!

According to TechCrunch, Apple may be planning to use Spotsetter's technology, which layered social data on a maps interface, to bolster its Maps app with location recommendations. The deal, for an unspecified amount, was said to focus mainly on the technology and the talent of Spotsetter's founders.

Top Rated Comments

Mark Booth Avatar
122 months ago
As much as I wanted to see Apple kick Google's butt in court, I think this strategy is the better approach. Apple continues to make the moves necessary to make Google redundant under iOS and Mac OS (well, as redundant as they can). I find myself using Google's services less and less and also find myself increasingly happy with Apple's offerings. And that's good in a lot of ways, not the least of which is that I trust Apple with my personal information a LOT more than I trust Google.

Mark
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
bchery21 Avatar
122 months ago
For being such a perfectionist his headphones sounded like crap.

wrong article?
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Arndroid Avatar
122 months ago
Steve Jobs would have never done this. What a waste of money. This is not the apple I grew up with. As a shareholder I am outraged. They should have bought Spotifysetter.

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For being such a perfectionist his headphones sounded like crap.

Do I take advise on headphones from a guy who can't post in the right thread or one of the most successful music producers of all time?
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
madsci954 Avatar
122 months ago
What has been implemented from previous purchases in the past 5 years? I ask because I honestly don't know. :confused:

Siri and AuthenTec (Touch ID) to name a couple
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
vice-versa Avatar
122 months ago
Very innovative of Apple. Almost as innovative as taking a magnetic plug used on Asian Water Kettle and putting it on a laptop and then patenting it.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
thekev Avatar
122 months ago
Who?
Apple is pretty good at buying companies I've never heard of, while Google buys a number of large companies with whom I'm more familiar.

It helps them get a good deal when they aren't after the brand itself. Just being unknown outside of tech circles doesn't mean untalented or lacking a good product.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)