It sounds great. A program that guarantees top listings for local searches on Google, Yahoo and Bing. An "officially approved" one in "cooperation" with those search engines. But it's not so, say Google and Bing. The "Local Paid Inclusion" service launched officially today. The site's home page pitches: Local Paid Inclusion is a Google, Yahoo and Bing contracted service and is offered as an approved official program in cooperation with those search engines. Local Paid Inclusion promotes a local business’ profile page, like those found in Google Places, Yahoo Local and Bing Local, into [...]

Related Topics: Google: Maps & Local | Microsoft: Bing Maps & Local | Top News

Local business marketers often hyper-focus on Google search rankings, but it's important not to forget that even if Bing and Yahoo! do not have the lion's share, even 15% of search volume can create a sizable number of potential business referrals. So, here are a few basic tips for optimizing for Bing Local search rankings. Optimization of business profiles in the Bing Business Portal (or "BBP") is not difficult nor time-consuming. Microsoft's newish Beta interfacing for administrating business listing details is actually pretty slick and easy to use. 10 Tips For Optimizing Local Busi [...]

Related Topics: Local Search | Microsoft: Bing Maps & Local

In May of last year I had a conversation with someone who told me that Nokia Maps (Navteq) would effectively replace the infrastructure behind Bing Maps. I was surprised to say the least and wrote about it in a story entitled Bing Maps To Be Powered (Replaced) By Nokia? The impression I got is that Bing would control the presentation layer and search on top of maps but that the "guts" would come from Nokia/Navteq. At the time of the story Microsoft offered the following comment: Bing Maps has utilized Nokia content for road data, geo-coding and routing services for several years, through N [...]

Related Topics: Google: Maps & Local | Microsoft: Bing | Microsoft: Bing Maps & Local | Microsoft: Bing Mobile | Microsoft: Mobile

Chris Pendleton announced on the Bing Maps blog that they have pushed out a major update to their driving directions "routing engine." The new routing engine is twice as fast as the old one and adds more features like adding up to 3 routes in one request. Previously, Bing Maps used a routing algorithm named Dijkstra's algorithm. They replaced it with a new one named "Customizable Route Planning" or "CRP" for short. The new Customizable Route Planning algorithm is "twice as fast" as the Dijkstra's algorithm, according to Chris Pendleton. Chris also posted an excerpt of how this new rou [...]

Related Topics: Microsoft: Bing Maps & Local

Google is bringing the blue dot indoors. Google Maps for Android 6.0 is going to start showing interior maps of airports, select malls and retail stores in the US and Japan. In Japan transit stations are also mapped. The floor plan data has been obtained from all the participating entities, which Google's Steve Lee says are "very excited" to be a part of the program. Those entities include numerous Macy's, Bloomingdales, Home Depots and all US IKEA stores. (See the full US list at the bottom.) Below is a Google-provided screenshot of the Mall of America before interior maps and after: [...]

Related Topics: Google: Android | Google: Maps & Local | Google: Mobile | Microsoft: Bing Maps & Local | Microsoft: Bing Mobile | Top News