If you're in Australia and are looking for the cheapest oil price, don't do it the hard way. American app GasBuddy is happy to be of assistance as it takes its debut today in the Land Down Under. The app service is running in the US since 2004 and informs prices to consumers via crowdsourcing.
The app is free and accessible on Android and iOS where it has come together with apps like Acorn, a stock-trading platform in choosing Australia as its first release clearinghouse outside North America. The app service depends on crowdsourced data to deliver price points at gasoline stations around the country. GasBuddy subscribers are advised to validate or verify petrol prices on the app as they pass by service stations, gaining points and likely to win $100 worth of free fuel in the daily draw, according to Mashable.
The GasBuddy Australia country manager, Nic Moulis said that there are a lot of things to do to make the app intuitive for Australian mass. "There are hurdles around product type, the way prices are notified. We talk in litres, they talk in gallons," he said. "It was [about] making sure that user experience was right, day one."
The notion behind GasBuddy is plain but needs a decisive crowd of users to be effective. Using their apps, each GasBuddy users check prices for the various grades on diesel, unleaded and LPG fuel at petrol stations and reports them to the updated GasBuddy database. Others could confirm the prices after they had seen them or report updates of price change, based on the Gizmodo report.
In the US alone, every month GasBuddy receives 60 million price reports with a core of power users who submit more than a dozen of various prices every day. Even acquiescent user not submitting any prices have the benefit of GasBuddy's crowdsourcing finding the most inexpensive prices.
One of GasBuddy's largest forms of revenue is through their database. In the US, they signed agreement with huge car makers like Mercedes-Benz to provide data to the car's navigation system. This enables the driver to find petrol prices while driving without even touching the phone. This kind of feature will also be introduced in Australian operation seeking to sign deals with much higher car manufacturers, the Business Insider reports.
With the release of GasBuddy, Aussies will no longer have a hard time finding the nearest gas station with the lowest prices. Additionally, it could win them $100 voucher worth of free gas.
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