Users of Google's mobile services on handsets are familiar with how its search service can assume they're looking for something in its own general vicinity, even using GPS location. That level of detail hasn't always been available through desktop searches, though in recent months, I've noticed Google had been testing the concept off and on. I'd assumed the company was judging my approximate geography using my IP address.

This morning, the company confirmed that suspicion, making official that it will use IP addresses to approximate users' locations when it can, to make desktop searches more localized. In a blog post this morning, Google engineers Jenn Taylor and Jim Mueller wrote, "In most cases, we match your IP address to a broad geographical location. You can also specify your likely location using the 'Change location' link on the top right corner, above the map. We try to make our guesses as good as they can be so...you can just say what you want, and we'll try to find it right where you are."