Take a roomful of programmers, a beta Google web service and the concept of geo-targeting singles and you have 4ppl +GoogleMaps. The service works by merging 4ppl’s database of singles and overlaying it on top of Google’s super GoogleMaps service. Enter in what you’re looking for and your state and GoogleMaps returns a map with icons representing the location of the people in the 4ppl database. The sidebar has a list of the people displayed on the map, clicking on the username brings you to the person’s profile at 4ppl.com.
Check it out here.
From Artur Armman at AEWebworks:
BoonEx Group and AEwebworks Dating Software Development, two software development companies, specializing in online dating industry, announced a new cool system, which unites functionality of Google Maps http://maps.google.com/ and database of US members of 4ppl Online Personals website.
With this nice tool visitors may search for members and see their location on a detailed map. Although location is not precise such experience adds drive and personal touch to 4ppl community; so far the system shows people located within certain ZIP code area. This limitation is set due to privacy concerns. Members of 4ppl share their ZIP codes, but they may be unwilling to provide their actual home address.
“This is only one of the very first steps; give it a wait and we’ll let people opt-in and search for precise location of a potential soulmate, and then arrange a date using video-call”, says Andrey Sivtsov (CEO of AEwebworks) – “BoonEx Group and AEwebworks Software Development now work on a complex interactive system, which should merge advantages of online and real-life dating. Note that we hope to make it accessible from mobile phones, because we belive that dating should be mobile, and dates should happen in real life, not virtual.”
Google Maps is a new tool provided by Google Inc. It is still in beta mode and there’s no much information about use policy or APIs. BoonEx and AEwebworks believe this to be a good try and a nice tool to play with.
Goolge Maps for 4ppl personals was done in the frames of 4ppl mobile initiative aimed at development of dating services for mobile devices. This is a first stage of long term plan to transform online dating into real life experience.
