Google representative Marissa Mayer recently spoke with some bluntness about Google’s failures in the world of social networking. Of course, this wasn’t news to anyone who paid attention to the anticlimactic puff of smoke that was Buzz. “We haven’t gotten social right yet,” says Mayer. She also clarified that a part of the effort that will be required on Google’s behalf is getting a better understanding of who your “friends” really are. A part of their exploration in this area is being done through Google Hotpot.

Hotpot, the tool that lets users rate businesses and get suggestions of places they may enjoy, received more than a little shove out the door when it was unleashed. Google went to Portland for a focused, local experiment; the company handed out t-shirts, gave free coffee at a local establishment for a month, and started a competition with tens of thousands of dollars worth of prizes. From there, they continued to publicize Hotpot on their various mediums and added a number of features.

More recently, they’ve brought Hotpot to mobile devices. They unleashed the Hotpot mobile app for Android alongside their Maps application, meaning that just about every user who goes to Google for local utilities had the Hotpot application sidling up next to them. Google also released this application for iPhone users in early January of this year.

Both applications allow users to find businesses that are near their current location (which can be found using either your GPS or your position on the network). Users can then browse through these businesses or narrow down the items based on what they’re looking for. In either case, they can quickly see ratings or add a review of their own. The applications feature powerful widgets, in-depth customization, and, of course, they’re 100% free of charge.