Twitter Places offers real-time, word-of-web information on local businesses

A recent survey from Harris Poll Online indicates that one-third of respondents use social media as an outlet to voice opinions about a company, brand or product. Now, tweeters can complement their rants or raves with map points of their locations so consumers can easily find hot spots or click a place to read recent conversations about a brand. This feature may offer marketers the chance to boost their local word-of-web campaigns.

Twitter explains its Place feature enables users to write a review or send a message to followers without losing words explaining their whereabouts. Twitter users can use all 140 characters to say something about a company, then simply "search places" to add their location. Followers can click on the location to get a map view and learn more.

The social network has joined forces with Foursquare and Gowalla on this feature to help users get the most relelvant tweets about a place, according to the official Twitter blog. Notably, this could mean Twitter is moving even closer toward a paid search model – particulary as Foursquare is currently working on its advertising platforms.

Foursquare’s head of business development, Tristan Walker, recently told ClickZ that the mobile application is developing a number of campaigns to help businesses increase consumer loyalty. "We’ll continue rolling out brand integrations in a variety of ways, working closely with brands to ensure that both we and they feel comfortable with the campaigns," he told the source in an email.