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

Pierogies in Philadelphia

Peach Cobbler in Atlanta

This week, SearchShots introduces Best In Show, our new blog feature that allows team members to critique the work of others and showcase our standards for search marketing campaigns. Today, we are reviewing mobile search campaigns in the financial services category. Has a competitor (or anyone) caught your eye for being remarkable or awful in search? We want to hear from you! Email us at razorfishsearch@razorfish.com

In the US, Mobile phone internet usage penetration is projected to increase from 83.5% 2010 to 126.2% 2013 (source: EMarketer, November 2009).  “Searching for information” accounts for 66% of US mobile phone internet activities (source: Ruder Finn, November 2009), providing a new platform for our clients to reach potential customers.

Publishers are catching on and delivering new mobile targeted opportunities.  In 2009, Google released the functionality to target High End Mobile Devices (HEMD): devices that have full internet browsing capabilities, show standard HTML and can support conversion activity from start to finish.

We decided to search around in the financial services category to see who is taking advantage of the mobile search opportunity on HEMD.

Search Results and Mobile Site Experience for ‘Bank of America’:

Search Results and Mobile Site Experience for ‘Fidelity’:

When you compare Bank of America and Fidelity, it’s clear that Fidelity is not delivering on the mobile user’s intent, but rather opting their desktop search campaigns into HEMD targeting without a mobile strategy. The copy and the landing page are identical to the branded search results on a desktop. The message is not connected to the mobile user’s intent and the landing page is not easy to navigate from the small screen.

On the other hand, Bank of America’s copy has a call-to-action to download their mobile app, which is appropriate for mobile user intent. Their mobile messaging is relevant and the site experience is easy to navigate on the small screen.

Financial Services providers should take advantage of the mobile search opportunity: implement a local strategy, leverage mobile ads with Local Business Extensions and drive the user to nearest Branch/ATM.  The testing opportunities for mobile search are endless. Financial Service providers should also test to learn the intent of mobile brand searchers by rotating different messages and call-to-actions (i.e. supporting Mobile Banking App download, Branch/ATM locator, click-to-call for customer service messages, etc).

Our Mobile Search Recommendation: Isolate the mobile SEM experience from the desktop. Pay off the mobile search query with the right experience.  Improve your campaign’s ROI and position your client as an innovator among the competitive set. For more information, read our mobile case study that shows how a Fortune 100 retail client leveraged the advanced Google Mobile HEMD targeting.

Have you had a mobile search experience that you loved (or hated)? We want to hear from you, so post your comments.