RSSGoogle Goes Local with Beta Search
By Nate Mook | Published February 3, 2005, 12:29 PM
Google has taken live on its homepage a new service for locating local businesses, which scours millions of Web pages and crosschecks the results with the Yellow Pages data. Google Local was previously part of the company's Google Labs development sandbox, but has now been deemed ready for widespread use.
One example cited by Google is using the service to find an auto parts store within walking distance. Google Local shows results on an area map, and can limit results to a specific distance from a user's starting point. For frequent local searchers, Google remembers the location in which to look.
Although the service currently only works in the United States and Canada, Google plans to expand its reach in due time. The company also expects to provide a way for businesses to add themselves directly to the search results.
While it is still in beta testing, Google may have felt added pressure to make its local search more widely accessible from the main homepage. Rival A9.com recently upgraded its Yellow Pages search with pictures for businesses in certain cities, and MSN this week launched a completely rebuilt search engine.
AOL also unveiled local searches of its own last month that make use of its AOL CityGuide content.
Google Local only searches for locations in the United States and Canada
Hope they extend it to other countries.
Amit
http://labnol.blogspot.com
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There is still a fundamental flaw with this. Many of the small businesses in my area don't have websites. It's great if I want to find Dominoes pizza a few miles away, but what about the 3 pizzerias within 5 blocks of my house? I know it's not Google's fault, but it's still an issue.
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I live in a very small town. There are only about 8,000 residents. The local "Food Mart" here doesn't have a website. What they do have is a listing in the phone book and that's where Google Local gets it's data. After reading your post I thought I'd see if they were listed by Google.. Sure enough when I searched for the words "Food Mart" and entered my little town in the second box the small little store appeared as the #1 search result.
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all the search engines available return the same results.
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Uninteresting, you better check these links:
http://www.google-watch.org/dying2.html
http://forums.seochat.com/t22048/s.html
search.msn.com seems to be more accurate lately...
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two minor links to sites complaining that google isnt as good as ms. I have seen a thousand more sites than that saying ms's lame search engine is as pathetic as it's os.
who cares ?
Use what works best for you.. that's why there is a choice
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As of 6:55am EST 2/4/2005:
©2005 Google - Searching 8,058,044,651 web pages
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http://www.google-watch-watch.org/
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Great read Bernis. Very intelligent. Thanks for the link.
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