TripAdvisor Launches Facebook App

Travel website TripAdvisor has launched Local Picks, a new Facebook app that provides friends' and locals' dining recommendations for 850,000 restaurants.

Each restaurant has a detailed profile that includes a score from one to five on the Local Picks Index, a rating system whose results are based on the opinion of locals. The app is integrated with Facebook's timeline, so diners can share ratings, favorites, and themed lists with their Facebook friends.

Local Picks also has each restaurant's basic contact details, including address, neighborhood, phone number, and website address. The type of cuisine, hours of operation, and photos are some of the information included from Foursquare and Facebook Pages, and menus are from Single Platform.

Local Picks features include a Foodies Feed, which keeps users informed of their Facebook friends' recommendations and real-time activity such as where they've checked in and what restaurants they've recently rated. Diners can also follow other foodies, like well-known chefs, outside of their immediate Facebook network.

A Local Picks Index ranks top restaurants worldwide, while a customizable list can be made by clicking "want" and "fave" buttons on the Favorites and Wish Lists.

Local Picks is now available to Facebook users in English, but more languages will launch later this summer.