31 Aug What is Snapchat’s Vurb?
Snapchat plans to snag San Francisco-based Vurb, a search and recommendation app, for more than $110 million. Vurb is an app that was launched in 2011 for iPhones and later expanded to Android and Amazon devices. Its core purpose makes convenience a priority by showing the user what’s going on in the local area, right down to which groups may be performing. It also offers recommendations and different ways to communicate with friends. It seems to be the one-stop shop for finding out what’s going on in your local area, and then some.
The Details
Vurb is available on both iOS and Android devices and has been referred to as a search engine, much like google. Once you open the app and create an account, a search bar appears allowing you to search for anything. Once you search for something the app will pull up relevant information regarding the search item, like Yelp reviews, and directions, to name a few.
However, below the search bar, most of the work has already been done for you. Recommendations appear on everything from nearby restaurants, movies, performances, and even what’s showing on TV. The app is also customizable. You can set up preferences that reflect the things you’re most interested in. The preferences will also reflect in the types of recommendations that are displayed. In essence, Vurb is a messaging app, a social network, a recommendation service, and a personalized location-based search engine.
Social Options
Vurb provides many ways to communicate with friends and even has its own feed, much like Facebook. You can message friends and share local events and happenings with them. You can even bundle your search results together and share them with friends. This is convenience at its finest. It even has Uber and google maps roped into the framework. Although Snapchat is a messaging app, it will be interesting to see how Vurb and Snapchat mix.
Snapchat’s Vurb should prove useful to many people: personalizing searches and making everything easier. With so many social perks included, it should make sharing any and every type of information a cinch for users. The fact that the app provides users with information from a localized perspective, makes it extremely useful and personal. An added plus is the fact that you can go a step further with personalization by using preferences. It may not have caught on when it first came out, but perhaps Snapchat will give Vurb the steam it needs to power ahead.
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