Courtesy of Joojoo
Joojoo, a St. Louis-based start-up, lets you search for businesses and restaurants without being fooled by fake or paid-for reviews.
UPDATE, 6/20/16: Joojoo has launched its app for iPhone and iPad. If you've been using the ad-free social network to get recommendations for businesses and restaurants, there's now an app for that!
Get the app here. Our original story about Joojoo continues below.
Joojoo is part-online directory and part-social network, like what you’d get if Yelp had a baby with Facebook.
So you’re in the mood to try a new restaurant. Or you’re new to the neighborhood and need a plumber. Or maybe you’re just looking for something fun to do. Don’t you wish you could instantly get recommendations from your friends first?
Now you can. Enter Joojoo, the brand new online directory launched Monday by a Webster Groves startup. Like Yelp or Angie’s List, Joojoo lets users search for and rate businesses, restaurants and attractions, but with a twist. Instead of relying on paid advertising or search engine optimization, Joojoo’s search results are based on recommendations from your friends.
“It’s inspired by something very simple, just word of mouth,” founder Brent Cowin says of Joojoo. “Most of the other Internet services out there, they just provide suggestions that make them the most money. On our network, we’re not. It’s based around the people you follow.”
Cowin’s startup has been developing Joojoo since 2013, but the idea started before then, when Cowin tried to build a startup offering discounts or free items in exchange for online reviews. But as Internet searches became more reliant on paid placement, Cowin says the idea evolved into a social directory that places a premium on friends’ opinions, not on advertisers’ dollars.
Joojoo’s ad-free platform is part-directory and part-social network, what you’d get if Yelp had a baby with Facebook. Search for a business on Joojoo, and the first thing you’ll see is a list of recommendations, tips or warnings from friends in your network. A 2012 study from Nielsen says more than 90 percent of people say they trust family and friends’ suggestions over all other forms of advertising, including online consumer reviews.
For example, this reporter’s recent search for the best place to get a Cuban sandwich in St. Louis turned up two quality results endorsed by friends, Boogaloo in Maplewood and Pickles Deli in the Central West End.
Joojoo users can post reviews of businesses and tag keywords (such as “BBQ,” “home repair” or “pet-friendly”) to make them easier for friends to find. Users can also endorse a business they like or post warnings to tell their friends what to avoid.
St. Louis is uniquely well-represented in Joojoo’s new online directory thanks to the fact that it was built here. A team of about 12 contributors, including two graduates of Washington University, built the site in a studio in Webster Groves.
“We started grassroots with friends and family, and we have the best support here in St. Louis,” Cowin says. “St. Louis is a terrific place to develop and build and create.”
Businesses can pay a one-time fee to claim their listing on Joojoo, and plans are in the works for more monetization opportunities, Cowin tells SLM. Joojoo lists more than 15 million restaurants, salons, auto shops and other businesses in the U.S. and Canada.
