Google today released Hotpot - a local recommendation engine powered by users and their friends. With Hotpot, Google is making local search results for places on Google more personal and relevant.

Hotpot meshes information from a Google Places compendium of more than 50 million spots around the world with users' ratings and preferences of friends they invite into their online circles.

Users are able to rate places they like, and based on them, Google provides other related places. Users' ratings for places are shared with their friends. The created Hotspots provide recommendations about specific places on either Google Maps or Places for Android.

In search results, users can see recommended places by using the new Place Search and clicking on the "Places" filter. Users can also see recommendations when searching on Google Maps, Google Maps for Android or when checking the Place pages for a specific business.

Google debuts Hotspots just weeks after Facebook moved to become the heart of smartphone lifestyles by making it easy for people to find deals at nearby shops and connect with mobile software applications.