Google and Yahoo! get local

The ongoing struggle for supremacy between Google and Yahoo! has opened up on a new front with Google launching a beta version local search.

Enter a search term which includes a US place name and the Google Local search results home in on all relevant sites within a specified radius of the location.

The Google Local search is incorporated as a separate option within the normal Google.com results page, or you can go direct to Google Local search. Hopefully the next version will include a UK Local search.

Google Local works by grouping shops and services by geographic location then cross referencing the results with Yellow Pages to pinpoint and rank pages to a particular location.

These are the results of a Google Local search on Houston convention centers. (For the avoidance of doubt, that’s Houston, Texas, not the Houston outside East Kilbride.)

It could be argued that Yahoo! have been doing local searches for ages with http://maps.yahoo.com/  Equally, it could also be said that the maps, which only extend to North America, are merely graphical representations of Yahoo! Yellow Pages. Certainly when you compare the two, Google Local is more useful with links to the sites, an instant location map and the ability to sort results over a specified radius. And it looks prettier too.

Although the beta Google Local and Yahoo! Map searches may, at the moment, be of limited use unless you need to track down a business in the US or Canada, it is an insight into what is around the corner - in both senses of the phrase. Better double check our web sites have the right postcode on them because it looks like local searching is the next big thing.