Facebook announced this week yet another new way it plans to take advantage of the data it collects—but this time, even battle-worn users will likely approve.
Androids and iPhone users will soon have a revamped “Nearby” section on the Facebook app, a guide to restaurants and other destinations that are ranked based on Likes from friends, recent check-ins, and other data.
The new features leverage Facebook’s massive data banks to get users personalized, geo-targeted information about nearby businesses, an advantage over rival location services Yelp and Foursquare. In another challenge to competitors, Facebook also rolled out a rating system based on a five-star scale similar to Yelp’s.
As Facebook faces outrage at monetization policies at Instagram, it’s worth noting that the company remained mum on any plans to add advertising to the feature.
