SearchCap: The Day In Search, October 23, 2008
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web.
Topic: Global Positioning System
Location in the Browser: What Does It Mean?
Not long ago, Google rolled out its “Geolocation API” (via Google Gears). Initially it was intended to enable third party publishers and developers to get location for their apps on mobile devices using a combination of the phone’s inherent location-awareness technologies (i.e., GPS) and Google’s cell-tower database (which has been expanded now to include WiFi […]
SearchCap: The Day In Search, September 12, 2008
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web.
Search In Pictures: Google To The Moon, Yahoo’s Server Toss & GPS Bike
In this week’s Search In Pictures, here are the latest images culled from the web, showing what people eat at the search engine companies, how they play, who they meet, where they speak, what toys they have, and more.
Google Adds Location To Mobile Web Search
Last November, Google introduced its My Location feature in Google Maps for Mobile. It uses cell tower IDs to triangulate the location of the phone and then identifies that location on the Google Maps interface. With a bit less precision, it essentially does the same thing that GPS does: eliminate the need to enter a […]
Yahoo’s Fire Eagle Location “Switchboard” Comes Out Of Private Beta
Earlier today I was at the Brickhouse in San Francisco as Tom Coates, head of the Fire Eagle team, announced the release of Fire Eagle, which had been in private beta. The offering is intended to be something of a clearinghouse or “switchboard” (Coates’ words) to help users “manage location” across the internet and on […]
Google’s Pittman Talks About Visual Search & Facial Recognition Capabilities
Beet.TV interviewed R.J. Pittman, Google’s Director of Product Management for Consumer Search Properties, about image search. The video is below, but here is my short summary of the interview. Pittman said Image Search has huge growth opportunity for Google. Google explained that text doesn’t always describe the image, so they use other techniques. They use […]
Google-TeleAtlas Collaborate To Improve Local Data
No matter how much 3D, imagery, flash, and other impressive functionality you build into maps, data are the core of the experience. And improving local data is like building the pyramids in a sense. It takes lots of effort from many people. For this reason Google opened up Google Maps to community editing in March […]
Google Maps Now With “Send To Garmin”
There’s “send to car” and “send to TomTom;” now there’s “send to Garmin” (GPS devices). As with TomTom devices, Google Maps and routing can now be sent directly to Garmin personal navigation devices.
Microsoft Provides Local Search Content To Garmin Personal Navigation Devices
LiveSide reports on a deal that provides access to Live Search Maps/Local content via MSN Direct to the Garmin nüvi 780 personal navigation device (PND). Users can get maps, news, weather, local events, and other content. One can also plan trips on Windows Live Local and then “send to GPS.” The latter capability works on […]
What Does 2008 Have In Store For Local?
Many people I speak to still ask the familiar question, “Is this going to be the breakout year for local?” while expressing frustration or disappointment that “local hasn’t yet lived up to expectations.” But local is a marathon, not a sprint. It’s also more complex than the general search market, which features an ecosystem built […]
Search Year 2007: Search News, In Review
Each month, I compile Search Month — a recap of all the stories that have happened relating to search, categorized by topic. I thought it would be fun to take all the Search Months over the past year and produce this edition of Search Year 2007. It was far more work than I imagined, but […]
SearchCap: The Day In Search, November 28, 2007
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web.
Google Introduces New “My Location” Feature for Mobile Devices
Many mobile industry insiders and pundits have argued that when GPS becomes ubiquitous then “location based services” will really take off. The problem is: GPS doesn’t always work, it isn’t yet in every device, and isn’t always enabled even if it is present. But the premise that passive location awareness represents a big opportunity in […]
Google Phone (Or OS) Ready To Launch: Mobile ‘Maka-Maka’
In what now has become an almost weekly industry exercise in anticipation and speculation, the Wall Street Journal writes about the forthcoming unveiling of Google’s plans for its (Phone/OS) mobile launch (“within the next two weeks”). The interesting new aspect of the piece is the idea of the OS/software as an open development platform for […]
Microsoft Releases Upgrades For Maps, Local, And Mobile
Late last month, at its “Searchification” event, Microsoft introduced a wide range of search enhancements and improvements. The company also said there would be additional updates to follow. Those are now rolling out and include feature and content enhancements for maps, local, and mobile services. The biggest news is the introduction of a new voice […]
Sorting Out The Mobile Search & SEO Mess
One of the biggest challenges of being a mobile SEO is comparing keyword results across the many different search engines. While the goal of all the mobile engines is the same, their approaches vary considerably. Many traditional SEOs will simply target Google and hope for the best in the other engines, but there is a […]
Sprint And Microsoft Extend Mobile Partnership, Offer New Services
Microsoft has been powering the search box on Sprint for awhile now, and the companies have had a public, strategic relationship since last November. But this evening they announced some new enhancements and mobile services. There are essentially two things being introduced: location-aware mobile search and a rich client download (voice local search) powered by […]
Microsoft To Use Inrix Traffic Prediction Data Across Network
Microsoft, which helped develop the technology behind traffic data provider Inrix and then spun it out, has now adopted the company’s services to provide traffic data and predictions across a range of Microsoft online and mobile properties including Virtual Earth and Live Local. Live Local had been using data from Traffic.com (Navteq), and it’s not […]
Yahoo Reorganizes, Schneider Now Sits Atop Sales & Marketing
The New York Times and PaidContent report on a new reorganization at Yahoo. Among the changes, Executive Vice President of Sales Greg Coleman will be leaving Yahoo early next year and Hilary Schneider has been promoted to EVP to lead a new group called “Global Partner Solutions,” which is now responsible for sales, marketing and […]
Putting Your Small Business On The Map
Online maps: we use them everyday for purposes as varied as finding out how to meet our friends at a new restaurant to sending out invitations to our child’s birthday party. Maps are valuable graphical presentations of how to get to a certain place. Most companies that depend on local customers are beginning to recognize […]
SearchCap: The Day In Search, August 3, 2007
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web.
Google Building Out Non-US Maps Data With Users
Brady Forrest at O’Reilly Radar reports on Google’s GPS-based “crowdsourcing” strategy to get local data on Maps outside the US (specifically in India). While Google has enormous amounts of data for the US and EU, in selected countries there’s much less data to plot on Maps. Accordingly Google is relying on users (e.g., My Maps) […]
Yahoo Go Comes Out Of Beta With Big Global Push
Yahoo Go 2.0 and related mobile oneSearch offerings are coming out of beta this Friday and going into “general availability” in the U.S. While consumers pay no attention to these distinctions — alpha, beta, gamma and so on — it signals Yahoo’s confidence in the product. Simultaneously, nation-specific versions of Go will be released in […]
SearchCap: The Day In Search, May 15, 2007
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web:
Forty-Eight Hours With Ask Mobile
On Friday I received a briefing on Ask Mobile (with GPS) and a demo phone with the application pre-installed. I now have three mobile devices that I’m carrying: a traditional cellphone, a Windows Mobile device and the Ask Mobile demo phone. It’s quite a challenge to physically manage all these devices as I walk and […]
New Ask Mobile Application Launched
Reuters and the Wall Street Journal have broken the story early. Ask has launched a new GPS-powered mobile application that contains content from Citysearch and Evite (and other IAC properties in the future). In my quick demo of the phone I was impressed with its many features and capabilities. But the most interesting and impressive […]
Send Destination Points From Google Maps To Your GPS Device
The Google Blog just posted that BMW in Germany is now supporting integration with Google Maps. What this means is that you can “send” a destination point from Google Maps directly to your BMW. Currently, it is only supported with some BMW GPS devices in Germany. If you are curious how it works, check out […]
Google Launches Maps For Windows Mobile
Google isn’t taking chances in mobile. The company is making sure that you can access Maps and local information if you text, use a WAP/mobile browser or prefer a rich mobile application, previously available only for Java phones. But now Google has introduced its maps application for Windows Mobile phones. (There’s also the suspected Google […]
Yahoo Teams With Dash For In-Car Local Search
In-car navigation provider Dash and Yahoo Local announced a deal to deliver Yahoo Local content via Dash’s portable “Dash Express” device and system. Dash Express, which features Internet connectivity, will be available in California in the spring of this year and across the U.S. nationally in the fall.