I feel like I am coming across so many companies and sites that create otherwise useless RSS feeds full of holes and lacking any real value , that I need to create a whole new category for this blog and call it “RSS Failures”. If such a category existed here, I have little doubt that it would fill up rather quickly. The latest entry for this not yet existant category is CitySearch.com. For those unfamiliar, CitySearch is arguably the number one most comprehensive, city specific, social entertainment guide on the web. With everything from bar and club listings, to restaurant reviews, to movie listings and shopping spots, CitySearch covers pretty much everything one could possibly do in a given metro area, and does so fairly well.

Now personally I am much more fond of smaller, more localized cultural websites that have true ties to a specific city, as I think they go beyond the normal listings and give a more detailed and accurate feel for what the area is really like. Unfortunately, these smaller, local sites are often out of date, hard to find, and even inaccurate in some cases. In addition to the randomness of the local sites, CitySearch has a clear advantage in the sheer amount of information that it has in it’s database. As part of IAC, CitySearch not only has the typical restaurant and bar listings for each city, but they also have the unique ability to tie these listings to other sites within their network for companion information such as nearby shows, hotels, discounted entertainment, and even entire trip planning to a particular city…hell, they can even match you up on a date with someone inside of a 5 mile radius of where you are looking to have dinner.

Why is it then, that their RSS feeds give you nothing beyond what amounts to a nav bar for a specific locale? Have a look.

This is the feed for bars and restaurants in Boston:

– FEED DOWN –

Wow. Comprehensive huh? The amount of information that IAC and CitySearch sit on is amazing, and it is EXACTLY the kind of content that people like myself would want to syndicate to their own sites, so why not offer it in a more useable and intelligent manner? What good do those feeds above do? How about allowing RSS feeds of search results, or of upcoming events, or of hot chicks in the area, or even tying them all together into one feed even? It is technically do-able, I just don’t get why they don’t do it.

The reason that RSS is exciting is because it is still in it’s infant stages, and although there have been some great things happening of late, people haven’t totally gotten a grip on how to use it effectively. Unfortunately, it can be frustrating for this same reason. Open up the gates IAC, and let us in. Look what it has done for others…