One of the reasons GasBuddy took off was that it wasn't just based on community reports; there was an incentive for gas stations themselves to accurately report their prices and keep them up to date.
It seems like you're trying to discourage businesses from participating (e.g. by not accepting sponsored placements), and that will have implications for your growth rate. I think you should look for ways to give businesses an active role, without eroding user trust in the recommendations, of course.
Think of the possibilities:
- Business can add coupons to its listing, making cheap food even cheaper
- Business can confirm a reported deal, adding to its credibility
- Business can provide full menu and a link to order takeout
I don't think any of those features would make users feel like the business is "buying" a listing it didn't earn.
Wow, thank you for this suggestion. This might be most sustainable way to update prices, as long as I set boundaries correctly. I will research how GasBuddy set up their data pipeline this week to see if we can benchmark.
I could be wrong but I think you’ll want to consider changing the name. The parent post is on point, but companies won’t be attracted by the “cheap food” moniker. Even “budget food” is more palatable for a restaurant to associate with.
This was our biggest concern as well. I already talked to few owners and negative connotation was making them reluctant to be on the site.. We thought about different name like "under10" "dimedrop" "Fooglemap" but none of them stuck. (We did like the name Fooglemap, but similarity to Google map will create risk of cease and decease letter if it ever becomes major.. so decided not to do it.)
Still torn on name change.. We want cool / memorable name.
Yes, I like this name too. But they will get us if we go major.
I liked Fooglemap (Googlemap + Food) and Slickmeals (like slickdeals) all very dangerous down the road if we ever become major. They will send cease and decease letter through their lawyer
The name is awesome and those businesses who balk at the word are silly. It's an honor to be able to nourish someone who needs a delicious and affordable meal. They should be proud to be able to offer this blessing to the community.
I hope so too, Google goes after any name that remind people of their name with similar service.. so Froogal / Foogle map was off the table.. but I love the name, I wish I can use it T-T
The word "cheap" while by definition means low quality is used in place of "inexpensive" most of the time in casual language, at least in the United States, and understood to mean low cost not low quality. I for one read the URL to mean inexpensive. Not that there aren't more appropriate URLs.
But this is just a map of the lower-priced items, which are available everywhere. You can find a cheap sandwich, bowl of soup, slice of pizza, or taco virtually anywhere. There is no corresponding standard point of comparison (no "gallon").
The unit should be a Meal. Not just an appetizer, a full meal. (Does it include drink? In US, many places give free tap water, but not others. Is it okay if it’s only lunch, or should it be available for dinner too? What about tipping?)
It's a little different, instead of maximizing gas/price they're maximizing community rating subject to 10$ limit. I have often wanted to query google reviews in this way. I think yelp might have let you do this back in the day. If this data is already being scraped continuously what I'd really like is a query interface.
One of the reasons GasBuddy took off was that it wasn't just based on community reports; there was an incentive for gas stations themselves to accurately report their prices and keep them up to date.
It seems like you're trying to discourage businesses from participating (e.g. by not accepting sponsored placements), and that will have implications for your growth rate. I think you should look for ways to give businesses an active role, without eroding user trust in the recommendations, of course.
Think of the possibilities:
- Business can add coupons to its listing, making cheap food even cheaper
- Business can confirm a reported deal, adding to its credibility
- Business can provide full menu and a link to order takeout
I don't think any of those features would make users feel like the business is "buying" a listing it didn't earn.