By Jim Dallke - Staff Writer
Geofeedia, the Chicago-based startup that searches, archives and analyzes real-time social media content, just launched an iOS app and new features to help companies cut through the noise on social media and better utilize Facebook, Twitter, and other social media platforms.The new iOS app allows users to gather location-based social media information in their area, or monitor any location, from their phone. Brands use Geofeedia's software to gain real-time consumer insights from social media sites. Police departments use Geofeedia to search social media for crime, and media companies use it to see what people are talking about in specific areas to frame their coverage. More than 400 organizations currently use the platform including Fortune 500 companies like McDonald’s and Dell, as well as media companies such as the AP, BBC and CNN.Other new features Geofeedia released include the ability to identify "top influencers" in a given location and their social connections, and it added a Salesforce integration that allows users to create a Salesforce.com lead or customer service case from a location-tagged social media post with a single click, the company said.“Our upgraded platform augments the value of social media as a powerful tool to get the pulse of any location around the world,” Phil Harris, CEO and co-founder of Geofeedia, said in a statement. “Whether it’s to gain situational awareness in a crisis, maintain public safety at events or generate sales leads at retail outlets, we provide users with the most actionable intelligence in real time. Further setting Geofeedia apart from other social media monitoring technology, our app is the only way to easily empower users with geo-tagged real-time social media data on the go.”Geofeedia launched in 2011 raised $3 million last March. It said its subscription-based platform recently reached more than 10,000 users, and it's on track to quadruple its client base by the end of the year.