Google has launched a new version of local search for mobile. This version heavily utilizes Google Maps to make organization of results easier on your phone.
The new local search for mobile lets you find business listings on Google Maps while you're on your computer, where you can "star" them. Once you star them, you can easily find your starred listings grouped together from your phone, making it easy to keep the listings you need while you're out, together. This can potentially make errand running a lot easier, as demonstrated in the video below.
Google has now made it easier to view businesses in Street View on Google Maps. When a user conducts a local search, the bubble that pops up on business results will show a Street View link.
Users can click on that link and see the business marked with a 3D marker in Street View, just like the one you'd find on the map. When you click the marker, details about the business are shown right within Street View.
Google introduced its Street View Partner Program today. This lets organizations and businesses apply to have their property featured in Street View on Google Maps, Google Earth, and Google Maps for Mobile.
Google has added a new feature to Google Maps, which allows you to perform multiple searches, while keeping them around for future reference. It's hard to explain without an example.
On the Google Lat Long Blog, to illustrate the feature, they give the example of a search for the Road to Hana on Maui. They search for this, but also search separately for supermarkets, gas stations, and driving directions to Hana, HI.
On Friday, the Interactive Advertising Bureau announced that the US had reached $5.5 billion in online ad revenue for the first quarter. This was down a bit from last year, but that's not too bad considering the state of the economy. In fact, you'd be hard pressed to find other ways to advertise your business that are as cost-effective.
Microsoft has introduced a new version of MSN City Guides in a move the company calls "one step in a long term plan to help users stay in the know wherever they are."
The new MSN City Guides makes ample use of Live Search and Live Search Maps as well as video and social media. Users can share information through Windows Live and Facebook. Microsoft says this makes event organization easy.
It's not all about traffic. It's about conversions. But it's hard to get conversions if you don't have the traffic, and while Google is one of the best potential sources for traffic, Google has other search engines besides web search that people use all the time, and it will not hurt to rank in them too.
Which engines besides web search do you see big traffic from? Comment.
Google’s changing it up, and local search optimization just became very, very important.
It used to be a searcher had to be very specific about a query to bring back local results. To borrow from Search Engine Guide's Miriam Ellis, who tips us off to the changes in the usual Google “10 pack,” or the top ten search results, a search for “chiropractor” reveals just how geographically targeted Google’s results are now.
The number of people using mobile devices to get content is on the way up.
When you search for local businesses on Google Maps, you will now see more than just ten results at a time plotted on the map. While the initial ten will still be plotted by pins and letters as before, you will see dots representing many more search results.
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