
Google kills Hotpot - pitdesi
http://techcrunch.com/2011/04/08/google-places-hotpot/
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patrickod
I saw this being announced in the new version of maps for Android and thought
that it was a nice addition. Never even knew that they had launched this as a
product. I'm not a frequent reader of the Google blogs but it seems that this
was the only way users were alerted of its existence.

Hopefully they will attract more users through pairing this with maps. It
seems that it's better to have it as a feature to what is already a successful
project than try and start it on its own.

EDIT: typo

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MatthewPhillips
How do I get to Hotpot in Maps?

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patrickod
I have a marker icon in the top right of the maps screen which opens the
"Places" menu. That seems to be what has become of it.

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MatthewPhillips
Places is different. Hotpot was a website where you voted on places in a
supposedly social way. I don't think it is in Places (at least not yet).

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ydant
It is, in the sense that you can rate places from Google Maps and the "Places"
icon and it appears to be stored to the same database as Hotpot. That
integration is throughout maps.

There's also a widget (Rate Places) included with Places/Maps (it's under the
category "Maps" on the widgets interface) that gives some of the Hotpot
functionality as well, including a similar interface and the "rate more
places" game mechanic.

As to why they changed the name? I'd like to think it's for people like me who
constantly read the name and type the name as "Hotspot". It's a confusing name
- not a word that I think most people encounter often. However, just like the
day it publicly launched, talking about it is making me crave a hotpot
dinner...

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yanw
They're not strictly 'killing it' they are to develop it into Google Places.

Back in SXSW Marissa Mayer spoke of consolidating some of their local efforts:

[http://searchengineland.com/googles-mayer-we-do-have-too-
man...](http://searchengineland.com/googles-mayer-we-do-have-too-many-
products-in-local-68159)

