MSN and Live Search probably don’t get enough attention in the local search field, but the reality is that there’s a solid core of usage thanks to the default experience offered on many PCs — Windows OS and Internet Explorer. (On a purely anecdotal level, an old blog post I wrote about adding a business to Live Local Search is the 3rd most popular article on my blog in 2009, and MSN/Live sends it the most traffic.)

With that in mind, Live Search’s recent announcement that they’ve overhauled MSN City Guides is worth paying attention to.

The new city guides integrate Live Search and Live Search Maps, which should give greater visibility to local businesses that both rank well in Live Search and score well when reviewed by users. Other new additions to the city guides include video from MSN Video, better localized filtering of events and information, and one-click directions to businesses and other locations.

To a large degree, MSN is playing catch up to sites like Citysearch and Yelp (not to mention MapQuest, Google Maps, and Yahoo Local), but MSN has a large default user base that could help MSN City Guides become a bigger player in the local search field.

Postscript by Barry Schwartz: The official Virtual Earth Blog has now posted about this update at their blog.

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

About The Author: Matt McGee is Search Engine Land's Executive News Editor, responsible for overseeing our daily news coverage. His news career includes time spent in TV, radio, and print journalism. His web career continues to include a small number of SEO and social media consulting clients, as well as regular speaking engagements at marketing events around the U.S. He blogs at Small Business Search Marketing and can be found on Twitter at @MattMcGee and/or on Google Plus. See more articles by Matt McGee

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