OK, officially it’s not available for people outside US and UK, although comments on the announcement by Google have said it’s available in other countries as well. But Google Mobile Search now has gotten more local. Where at first, or before, you were able to receive ‘locally relevant results’ based on your IP address or sometimes your postal code, you are now able to get them using the MyLocation feature on windows mobile phones. It uses the Google Gears Geolocation API, as seen in Google Maps mobile. Your location is pinpointed with help of Cell-IDs. The results are shown in the form of universal search results as Greg Sterling pointed out in his article on Search Engine Land.

I’ve already seen, depending on your operator/service provider, that the accuracy can be within 200 meters. Which I believe opens up enormous possibilities for small businesses providing local results. Even more reason to start optimizing your website and adding your data to the local business center!

Post from: Local Search - martijnbeijk.com

Google Mobile Search now gets more local