Comments on: No Joke: The Onion Launches CitySearch Competitor

By: metin2

metin2 — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 05:17:18 +0000

(Is CitySearch still in business? I thought it failed years ago) Ithink so

By: Karen

Karen — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 23:14:33 +0000

Is CitySearch still in business? I thought it failed years ago.

By: JefftheGreat

JefftheGreat — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 18:34:41 +0000

So what are they going to do, make up fake reviews that joke about a business? Will be funny but not helpful.

By: August 27, 2008 | next media update

August 27, 2008 | next media update — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 18:32:16 +0000

[...] The Onion Launches CitySearch Competitor TECHCRUNCH America’s Finest News Source has launched Decider , a local entertainment site that includes interviews, event information, and restaurant reviews. The site is initially launching with content for Chicago , with plans to support more cities over the next few months.The site has a clean (albeit somewhat generic) interface, with integrated Google Maps pinpointing each reviewed restaurant and a calendar for upcoming events. In addition to regular editorial content, users will be allowed to post their own reviews and comments. Source> [...]

By: Notes from a Teacher: Mark on Media » Wednesday squibs

Notes from a Teacher: Mark on Media » Wednesday squibs — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 17:05:49 +0000

[...] Fwix, the local news and social aggregator. Yet another entry in the local information aggregation field and, I presume, yet another warning shot across the bows of the local newspaper. See also: No Joke: The Onion Launches CitySearch Competitor. [...]

By: sara

sara — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 16:08:51 +0000

Haha I hope the Onion succeeds in this venture (as long as it doesn’t interfere with their headlines – Our Dumb World (link to ebooks version) is now a fixture on my coffee table). I wasn’t super impressed with the Decider… but then, I always skip over the actual reviews, etc, in the Onion’s actual paper.

By: Tyler Wright

Tyler Wright — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 15:36:18 +0000

The Onion makes me literally LOL every day!

“New Galaxy Discovered 4,000 Light Years from Public’s Interest”

Love the new TC look!!

By: Brian Sherwin @ Myartspace Blog

Brian Sherwin @ Myartspace Blog — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 13:32:03 +0000

Will be interesting I’m sure. Anything is possible on the net. The site you look down at today could end up being a hit within a few months time. You never know. That is the fun of observing it. And yeah, you gotta love the Onion.

By: Decider: The Onion’s New Cityguide « Screenwerk

Decider: The Onion’s New Cityguide « Screenwerk — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 13:21:29 +0000

[...] The Onion’s New Cityguide TechCrunch posted about a new Cityguide being introduced by the satirical publication The Onion. The name of the site [...]

By: Decider « Wir sprechen Online.

Decider « Wir sprechen Online. — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 06:22:13 +0000

[...] Net, The Onion, Web http://Decider.com is The Onion’s competitive answer on Citysearch; http://is.gd/1XcR [...]

By: Episode 48 - 8-27-08 - Coffee Leaves and Cameras | www.Geekazine.com

Episode 48 - 8-27-08 - Coffee Leaves and Cameras | www.Geekazine.com — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 03:59:31 +0000

[...] Facebook Ads – CNet iTunes back in China – Ars Technica Twitter Mad Men – Silicon Valley Insider Onion Launches Decider – TechCrunch Psystar Countersuit – CNet HP Closes EDS Deal – [...]

By: The Onion launching local city guides - Lost Remote TV Blog

The Onion launching local city guides - Lost Remote TV Blog — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 01:39:51 +0000

[...] design is clean and straightforward, and the content looks a little thin to start. But TechCrunch points out, “Decider isn’t serving as a standalone business, and will do just fine as an extension to [...]

By: Nick Stamoulis

Nick Stamoulis — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 01:15:59 +0000

I guess I just can’t see the Onion taking off with a venture like this but it will be interesting to see what happens!

By: Paul

Paul — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 00:00:29 +0000

May the Onion kick some butt with this, but they will need a hook to win. Their Kayak-like Finder feature may be that hook, but Decider will need to add more parameters (e.g., for restaurants, suitable for kids, romance, groups, etc.) to filter by, and more information about each restaurant (see Yelp’s merchant-sourced descriptions).

Citysearch has breadth and a certain level of quality info assured by professional reviews , but its UI still makes every visit into work. Not sure of its user numbers/use patterns, but well-known restaurants there have far fewer results than on Yelp.

Yelp is fun, fast and easy to use, but it is struggling more and more with quality control. It is pretty clear that the site removes reasonable reviews if merchants complain enough (merchant advertising is a key revenue stream for them), and the site’s social features encourage people to preen publicly instead of adding good information for the benefit of other users.

Go Decider!

By: pete

pete — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 23:27:23 +0000

Nice poll.

By: silicon valley dropout

silicon valley dropout — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 23:22:01 +0000

this is a tough space to be in

yelp and citysearch do almost everything already

By: Lacy Kemp

Lacy Kemp — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 23:11:49 +0000

As a long-time lover of The Onion, this is cool to me. I would totally be down for a different opinion on what to do. I don’t think it hurts the space to have another City Search type of site. I’m willing to check multiple places to compare and contrast. It would be cool, though it doesn’t sound like it’s happening, if Decider added a nice dose of The Onion’s awesome humor.

By: already sell local adverts in print

already sell local adverts in print — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 23:02:24 +0000

The Onion has local ad sales offices all over the country, so their advantage seems to be that they have ongoing relationships with local businesses. They could provide free adverts on Decider for placing ads in the print version.

Will they get user interest enough to be helpful.

By: =jason

=jason — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 22:54:01 +0000

If they can do what Yelp did and use their witty writers to begin pumping interesting and relevant reviews of restaurants, it could be a hit. If they can establish a cult following like their paper, they have a good chance at hurting Yelp, but probably not CitySearch. My mom and I use Yelp. My grandpa uses citysearch.

Could The Onion pull a significant portion of the loyal culture vultures away from Yelp and hurt their traffic? We’re polling over at tinycrunch.com

By: T3chlusive

T3chlusive — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 22:45:18 +0000

Another good trick they pull is hiring people off of craigslist to log in as users on their city directory website and have them post reviews all day at close to minimum wage.

I am sharing some deep trade secrets with you here which I am not under NDA to keep a secret so feel special when you read through.

By: T3chlusive

T3chlusive — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 22:36:41 +0000

Here in Los Angeles, and I can tell you this for a fact, that city directories are the new MySpace. Everybody and their uncle here is launching one.

They’re actually making money at this. What they do is populate the directories full of generic data from botting Google, then they show this “full” city directory to clients and start racking up the sales.

They are making good money at this.

However, you should always zig when others zag.