WhoDoYou Brings Honesty and Transparency Back to Social Local Search

Free Website and App Convert Social Network Chatter into Searchable Referrals for Local Services

TEL AVIV, Israel--()--WhoDoYou today announced the official launch of its social local search website and Android app, which offers an alternative to review sites like Yelp and Angie’s List. WhoDoYou collects sincere advice from real conversations on leading social networks, and converts them into honest, authentic referrals that guide people to the local service providers they need. With more than a half million searchable results - and thousands more added daily - WhoDoYou provides local business recommendations in thousands of cities in more than 50 countries.

“A 2013 Maritz Research survey revealed that 40% of people who use online review sites are skeptical of the results, because people are constantly caught posting fake reviews to boost ratings or harm competitors,” said Yoav Schwartz, founder and CEO of WhoDoYou. “Meanwhile, millions of genuine referrals are shared between friends each year through social networks like Facebook and Twitter. We capture all of this great advice that is otherwise lost, and make it available to people all over the world.”

WhoDoYou uses advanced machine learning and natural language processing to scour social networks for relevant public content (ex. “Does anybody know a good plumber in Milwaukee?”), captures the responses and distills them into searchable recommendations. Users can search by category and location, and trace every recommendation back to its original source, making it extremely difficult for businesses to ‘game the system’ with phony reviews.

Users who log in with their Facebook accounts receive additional referrals culled from private conversations between their own Facebook friends and groups. Not available through public searches, these referrals are captured and securely displayed only in each user’s private Vault.

“I was impressed by WhoDoYou’s ability to scale,” said Net Jacobsson, WhoDoYou investor and former Facebook executive. “Angie’s List adds 60,000 reviews per month, and it took them nearly twenty years to get there. WhoDoYou is now gathering more than 35,000 public recommendations per month, and they’ve been at this less than a year.”

About WhoDoYou

WhoDoYou is a social local search service that collects recommendations from real conversations on leading social networks in order to provide honest, searchable referrals for local businesses. The service can be accessed online (www.WhoDoYou.com) or via Android app, with an iOS app launching soon. WhoDoYou was founded in 2012 by former Microsoft executive Yoav Schwartz and former Answers.com CTO Jeff Schneiderman, and has received funding from Gigi Levy, Jon Medved, Isaac Applbaum, Mike Granoff, Net Jacobsson, HanJoo Lee, 18 Partners, Ronald Lauder Ventures and several other private investors.

Contacts

Fusion PR for WhoDoYou
Mark Prindle, 212-651-4223 (Office)
mark.prindle@fusionpr.com

Release Summary

WhoDoYou announces the launch of its social local search website and Android app, which offers an alternative to review sites like Yelp and Angie’s List.

Contacts

Fusion PR for WhoDoYou
Mark Prindle, 212-651-4223 (Office)
mark.prindle@fusionpr.com