Today we updated some more search functions to make our voucher search engine return better results. Not only will better results be seen on our voucher search engine (http://www.bview.co.uk/vouchers) but also via our voucher API (http://api.bview.co.uk).

Here is a a quick overview of what we’ve done:

1. We removed a search function which creates matches which sound like the original search term.

2. We switched on a search function which creates matches based upon what a word looks like.

3. Category matches are now more prominant.

Initial testing shows that our results are a lot better.

Plotstar launched yesterday and it is an interesting fusion of social activity planning + discovery in the hyerlocal area. So, if you are going on a shopping trip with a couple of friends to Oxford street, Plotstar allows you to create a list of things you’d like to do including shops to visit, restaurants to eat and places to see. Once you have created your itinerary you share it with your friends.

Polstar uses the BView promotions API to integrate local offers and deals which you can include in your plan.

We expect big things of the service as it adds new partners and functionality – watch this space.

The beauty of the Bookingbug service is that their online bookings interface is full widgetised i.e. if you use Bookingbug to manage your bookings online you can put the booking widget on every website you use to promote your business from social sites to directories and more.

Look out for vouchers and offers appearing on BView with a “book now” link.

We are committed to supporting good businesses that value their customers and treat them fairly:  vouchers from local businesses on BView are good for both businesses and customers– customers save money while supporting local businesses.  And good businesses get more customers.

As well as our voucher search engine (local businesses can add vouchers for free here), we give customers the chance to tell others about their experiences with businesses via reviews.  Most of these reviews are positive and give many businesses a lot of credibility with potential customers.  Companies like Atlantic Trampolines and SSKD Selffit Kitchens are clearly loved by their customers.

Others do not fare as well.  In all cases, we offer businesses the opportunity to report abusive reviews as well as the chance to respond publicly to any review.

Sometimes instead of a business responding to a negative review, we receive a letter from their solicitor seeking damages and costs from us unless we make the review disappear from public view. If the review breaks our terms & conditions then we remove it. If it doesn’t then we leave it in place. In the interest of transparency, we recently made the decision to publish such letters if they 1) pertain to a review that is compliant with our terms and conditions, and 2) the reviewer stands by what they wrote and supports our action.

The review in question was for Interexec and the legal firm is Carter Ruck. You can read the review here and make your own decision about whether the review is defamatory or not. The letter we received from their solicitors is shown below.

The LTF runs this competition on an annual basis with the aim being to help London-based tech startups by providing a competitive environment, introductions to some key potential partners and a helping hand in key aspects of building and scaling a business.

We were delighted to win our category where we were up against some fantastic competition (the other finalists being Media Equals, a media trading platform, and Zanran, a statistical data search engine) and we feel only slightly disappointed to loose the grand prix to Trojantec who develop cancer stem therapeutics.

On Friday we released a great new feature: restaurant booking. OK, there are several restaurant booking services available so what makes our’s so different?  Here are some features:

- really simple, really easy to use interface

- no registration required

- we remember your details meaning future bookings only take three clicks

- there is an iPhone-optimised version

Booking interface for web cbrowsers

So this is the view if you are viewing it from FireFox, Chrome or IE on the web….

Mobile browser view

…and this is what you see when you use a mobile browser and in this case on an iPhone.

We think you’ll agree that this is a really useful addition to the voucher search engine. There are currently around 2,000 live restaurant offers available and this number is growing. By our calculations, that makes us the home of the largest number of restaurant offers in the UK. Happy booking!

For any developers using the BView API: the restaurant booking screen is now part of the API and you don’t have to make any changes.

Interview located here.

I am happy to say that the first two iPhone apps using the BView API are now live. First up is Local Sale Finder which is available to download here followed closely by  London Offers (built by the good people from Rippll) which is available to download here.

The BView API is free for anyone to use and allows you to use the BView vouchers, sales & offers data base on your own application or website.  Go get a key and mash it up to your heart’s content.

I have only ever bartered over the phone but I have done it twice and it worked for me! I have my broadband, phone and TV through one company and it’s a fairly good price but there was a time when my broadband just wasn’t running to the speeds it should so I rang and told them I was cancelling my contract and moving elsewhere and to my surprise they started to negotiate over my costs and the speed. Not one to miss a bargain if I possibly can, I ended up asking them what they would offer to keep me with them. What I was offered was more than I expected and when I finally hung up I had had my broadband speed doubled and extra channels added on to my TV package. Somehow for me I do not get that toe curling embarrassment over the phone that I would face to face.

I did once try my hand at asking for a discount for cash when buying a fridge but not sure I was confident enough as the answer was a ‘no’. So I was wondering.. Do any of our BViewers haggle? (apart from Vial!) Have you managed a discount even without a voucher from BView? Or do you think that bargaining is too hard? I know that personally I am just not brave enough to ask most of the time but I can see from people on TV that it’s the cheeky people who just go for it that manage to get a better deal. Also there is the point – would you haggle more with a small business because you think they would be easier or would you feel that they are working hard to run a business and asking them to cut their profits is perhaps not ethically a good idea? Have you bargained your way to a good deal at a chain store somewhere, and is that easier or harder than face to face with a small business owner?

Look out for discount days
Lots of restaurants and takeaways have days that are quietest (often Tuesdays or Wednesdays), and in order to attract more people in on those days, they offer special deals.  These can be things such as 2 for 1 on main meals, or free desert with a main course.  One place that’s been advertising something like this at the moment is Pizza Hut, who are offering a free pizza with any order of a pizza and a side for delivery orders

Check online for discount vouchers
There are a number of sites around, including BView, who offer printable coupons that can be taken to restaurants to give you additional discounts on your meals.  Quite a number of places also offer vouchers on their own websites, and it’s worth checking for these as offers change fairly regularly.

Picnics & BBQ’s
Of course you could go down the picnic route if the weather is fine enough.  A nice bottle of wine, a bit of cold meat, salad and bread, a blanket and a good view can really be a very relaxing way of eating out cheaply, then there’s the humble BBQ.  Invite some friends, and eat al fresco.  If you do it right, and ask everyone to bring something, no one spends a fortune and everyone has a good time.  Just do make sure you cook everything properly won’t you!

Save up points & vouchers
It might sound like an odd way to do it, but saving up points from schemes like the Nectar scheme or Tesco’s clubcard scheme can give you a very affordable evening out, and in some instances these can be used along side some of the deals that restaurants offer.  These points can then be exchanged for vouchers to be used in various places including many eateries and sometimes you actually get more for your points this way than you would if you spent them in the store.  

My husband and I sometimes like to combine the picnic idea with the spending points one, and we’ll save our Boots advantage card points and go get ourselves a nice sandwich from Boots, then take it down by the river and eat while watching the boats go by.