Google is experimenting with search results tailored to a person's geographic location, after a similar move by rival Overture Services.
Mountain View, Calif.-based Google said Monday that Google Labs, the search company's research-and-development arm, unveiled a program that lets people type in a search term, along with an address or ZIP code, to find Web results and a miniature map from within the area.
Like many Google experiments, the new function may or may not be widely incorporated into the company's well-loved search engine, but Google has hinted at its ambitions for geographically targeted search in the past. Local search and advertising is also pegged in the financial community as a massive opportunity for major portals and search providers.
"The technology behind Google Search by Location is one of the first of its kind and is an exciting new direction for Google users seeking local information," a Google representative said via e-mail.
The move comes a couple of weeks after Google's main competitor, Overture, began testing its own local-search features. Overture, which is being acquired by Yahoo for about $1.7 billion in October, unveiled a demo Web site for local commercial advertising, and its search property, AltaVista, is testing a local Web search service. Pasadena, Calif.-based Overture said it plans to launch its service in the fourth quarter of 2003.
http://rss.com.com/2100-1038_3-5080417.html?part=rss&tag=feed&subj=news
Mountain View, Calif.-based Google said Monday that Google Labs, the search company's research-and-development arm, unveiled a program that lets people type in a search term, along with an address or ZIP code, to find Web results and a miniature map from within the area.
Like many Google experiments, the new function may or may not be widely incorporated into the company's well-loved search engine, but Google has hinted at its ambitions for geographically targeted search in the past. Local search and advertising is also pegged in the financial community as a massive opportunity for major portals and search providers.
"The technology behind Google Search by Location is one of the first of its kind and is an exciting new direction for Google users seeking local information," a Google representative said via e-mail.
The move comes a couple of weeks after Google's main competitor, Overture, began testing its own local-search features. Overture, which is being acquired by Yahoo for about $1.7 billion in October, unveiled a demo Web site for local commercial advertising, and its search property, AltaVista, is testing a local Web search service. Pasadena, Calif.-based Overture said it plans to launch its service in the fourth quarter of 2003.
http://rss.com.com/2100-1038_3-5080417.html?part=rss&tag=feed&subj=news