Comments on: A New Search Engine Specializing in Fun

By: Goby.com – New Search Engine Entirely For Local Search | Biz Web Strategy

Tue, 27 Oct 2009 23:46:00 +0000

[...] article in the WSJ about a new search engine, Goby.com (go and [...]

By: Weekend Update 10.24.09–Drinking From the Fire Hose Edition [Digital Daily] | TECHNICK

Sun, 25 Oct 2009 23:26:25 +0000

[...] brought a sparkle to the week with a review of Goby, the self-proclaimed search engine of fun. While she was impressed by the concept, she spotted some [...]

By: FateMaster Tech News » Weekend Update 10.24.09–Drinking From the Fire Hose Edition [Digital Daily]

Sun, 25 Oct 2009 03:49:50 +0000

[...] brought a sparkle to the week with a review of Goby, the self-proclaimed search engine of fun. While she was impressed by the concept, she spotted some [...]

By: Weekend Update 10.24.09–Drinking From the Fire Hose Edition | To-Review Dot Com

Sun, 25 Oct 2009 02:39:23 +0000

[...] brought a sparkle to the week with a review of Goby, the self-proclaimed search engine of fun. While she was impressed by the concept, she spotted some [...]

By: Weekend Update 10.24.09—Drinking from the Fire Hose Edition [Digital Daily] | TECHNICK

Sat, 24 Oct 2009 23:19:43 +0000

[...] brought a sparkle to the week with a review of Goby, the self-proclaimed search engine of fun. While she was impressed b the concept, she spotted some gaping holes in the search returns, like [...]

By: Weekend Update 10.24.09—Drinking from the Fire Hose Edition | Drake Martinet | Digital Daily | AllThingsD

Sat, 24 Oct 2009 19:32:30 +0000

[...] New Search Engine Specializes in Fun [...]

By: Mark Watkins

Mark Watkins — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 15:24:58 +0000

Hi Dana,

Thanks – we’re listening 8). You can open up the map dropdown (the map under the “where” box) and zoom in on Western Massachusetts – but we’ll look into making it so you can just type the Berkshires for added precision.

By: Dana Grossman

Dana Grossman — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 12:31:12 +0000

I’m a mom who works in the tech industry. I read about this company after they were picked up by mashable. I’ve used it a few times since — mainly when trying to find things to do with my kids (for my husband and I, as well as for our babysitter). The only real alternative here is Google, so having a site out there that’s dedicated entirely to “things to do” is pretty awesome. I’ve come across events/places in our town (and surrounding towns) that I was never aware of. Honestly, I don’t even know if our local paper is aware of some of these things. That said, there’s definitely room to improve the information you get back. But I’d give it 2 thumbs up for the concept & simplicity and will continue to root for the new guys. (Goby, if you’re listening, I think you should cover the “Berkshires” as a region to search on)

By: Mark Watkins

Mark Watkins — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 05:50:47 +0000

Hi Dave,

This is Mark, I’m the ceo at Goby. Thanks for the feedback, we’ll take a look. Currently we show multiple listings for a given restaurant (or beach or hiking trail or museum or any other entity) if we find it on multiple sites, just as other search engines do. This way you can click through to the various sites and see what each has to say. But we’re working on a feature to consolidate the listings down to a single result if preferred.

We’re more focused on helping you find fun things to do in general, not just restaurants, and as a search engine we consider ourselves to be more complementary to Yelp than a competitor.

By: Dave Barnes

Dave Barnes — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 03:58:36 +0000

It sucks.
I tried: eat 80209 anytime

I got:
4 listings for Basil Doc’s Pizza (I only need one)
4 listings for The Saucy Noodle
1 listing for Cucina Leone (which went out of business over 5 years ago)
1 listing for Nick N Willys World Famous Take N Bake Pizza (which went out of business over 6 years ago)
1 listing for Hemingway’s Key West Grille (which changed its name over 3 years ago)
1 listing for Elway’s (which is in 80206)
1 listing for Romano’s Macaroni Grill (which is in 80206 AND went out of business over 6 months ago)
1 listing for Tula (which was in 80206 and went out of business over 2 years ago)

Yelp is way better.
My prediction is a short life for these guys.

Katherine,
You need to do better research and testing.
,dave