Google seems to have their hand in so many cookie jars via a bunch of widgets, apps and services, that we start to wonder just how life was before Google ambled along. Google Places is a way to make it a whole lot easier for you to inform your family, friends and the rest of the world on your two cents’ worth concerning the places you visit. This time around, if you visit your profile on Google Places, you would have noticed a link located along the left that points to an Atom feed of all the place ratings and reviews you’ve churned up on Google. The feed address will only be known to you, but Google isn’t going to stop you from sharing it with the rest of your selected contacts.
Apart from carrying your Google Places ratings and reviews with you, Google also decided to make the app more useful by letting you more easily rate and review on Google the places you’ve found elsewhere during your travels or on the web.
Doing so requires you to look up the URL of a public GeoRSS/Atom feed which contains place information that you have in your sights, ranging from Foursquare check-ins to a My Map. Cut and paste the URL in question into the search box on Google Places, and place cards will be shown according to Google’s best ability.