Google Local

http://local.google.com/lochp

First time i have seen this and its looking pretty cool after a couple of searches relating to our location.

Looks like Google might be in the process of rolling out some new GEO::IP based stuff.

What are your thoughts on this? Just a one-off or part of a much larger project?

I can certainly see the benefit of being able to search for pages specific to your area however, i wonder if this is going to open up a new phase of GEO::IP spamming too?

Regards,

Lee

Interesting..

I just dug a little deeper into this and it seems that if you list an 'address' on the pages of your site you;ll likely be added to the 'local' listings.

I bet thats going to become the newest tool for SE spammers, adding hundreds of pages of addresses to their sites to get top listings in the local engine.

Regards,

Lee

Hmm, that's definately interesting. Definately a big step towards taking the giant overwhelming trashpile the internet has become and turning it into a more personal experience. In the old days, "world wide" had it's appeal, now I think people would much rather have the option of making their web surfing a localized experience.

You are right about the spamming though. It seems like the only way this could work would be if it was a dmoz type thing, with editors in every local. Maybe if they required that websites provide a local contact phone number with site submission, and require phone confirmation, so they could tell by area code if the listing was legit.

If there is a way to fuck it up and make it useless, people will find it.

Hmm,

We kind of have this service already with www.sensis.com.au they are the major provider of telephone books in Aus, along with other information services. It was only launched a couple of months back but it's great.

Cheers,

Allan