It’s been a busy week so far for local search. Here’s what happened:
Google renamed their Local Business Center “Google Places.” The change seems part of a process that started a few months ag0, when Google renamed their review-aggregating map profiles “Places Pages.” Enhancements are mostly cosmetic so far, though there are two new features applicable to small business owners: 1) Google is offering 2D barcodes for businesses to print and post in their storefront, so visitors can scan and view their Google Places Page and (2) In addition to allowing business owners to upload pictures of the inside and outside of their location, now Google will even come out and take photos to add to a Places Page.
Google has also started to showcase local businesses in the street view section of maps. In street view, an icon and text links to more details, and an additional click on the thumbnail photo opens the Places Page. This seems live only in select cities right now (SF yes, NYC yes, Philly no) (take a look here — click “more” to get to street view).
Places pages — or at least streamlined versions of them — are now available for mobile on the Android and iPhone platforms.
Lastly, a very creative enhancement: Yahoo’s Local search now lets you “dig in” to menus (pun intended). You can perform a local query for a menu item, and Yahoo will return a list of restaurants where that dish appears on the menu. Though it only works for restaurants with their menu online, it lends more support for the best practice of ensuring a consistent profile on all major engines, because local results are being used in more ways and in more places. For a sample, see if you’re hungry for the following:
Lamb vindaloo in mountain view
Tags: android, barcodes, Google maps, Google Places, iphone, local search, Matthew Maynard, menu search, mobile search, peach cobbler, pierogies, Places Pages, vindaloo, Yahoo maps
June 24th, 2011 at 10:08 am
[...] I feel like Google is already building this. One day, we will go to Google Maps, type in a friend’s name, and the map will display his or her coordinates. I mean, why not? [...]