Topic: Map

SearchCap: The Day In Search, April 27, 2010

Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: How Do Americans Access Government Data? Search Engines. The Pew Internet & American Life Project has issued a new report about how Americans access government information. They found that 82% of […]

Google Earth Added To Google Maps, No Download Needed

Google has started to combine its Earth and Maps products with the announcement that Earth view is available to all Google Maps users. To see 3D imagery in Google Maps, you’ll need the Google Earth plugin which anyone can now use; it’s been available to developers since 2008. There’s also a new “Earth” tab on […]

Google Tests “Sponsored Map Icons”

The Google Australian Local blog announced a new feature they are testing in Google Australian Maps named “Google Sponsored Map Icons.” Google Sponsored Map Icons is a new way to promote your business within Google Maps. It is similar to how Google began plotting points of interests back last August but there was no way […]

SearchCap: The Day In Search, March 4, 2010

Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Liveblog: SMX West 2010 Keynote – The State Of The Search Union It’s day three of SMX West 2010, and we’re going to kick off with a group keynote conversation called […]

SEO

Does CityGrid From Citysearch “Answer” The Local SEO Problem?

At one time local startups could reliably count on Google organic traffic to help build their own traffic and brands. Indeed, this is how Yelp gained visibility in its early days. And larger publishers, such as yellow pages sites, have relied heavily on SEO, as well, to drive traffic to their advertisers. However, recently that’s […]

Irony: You Need A Map To Find Google Street View On The iPhone

We came to a strange realization on Friday at SEL headquarters: Google Street View is terribly unintuitive on the iPhone. As Danny Sullivan suggested, you practically need a map to find it. For those of you with an iPhone or iPod Touch who know how to use Street View already, move along — there’s nothing […]

SEO

SearchCap: The Day In Search, December 17, 2009

Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: The Google Phone/Nexus One Was (Briefly) In My Hand Yesterday after I had coffee with someone (who is not a Google employee) I was briefly given the “Nexus One” to look […]

Bing’s New iPhone App Goes Live

Microsoft’s new Bing iPhone app — that’s right, you heard it correctly — is an accomplishment on many levels. Microsoft has come a long way in acknowledging the importance of the iPhone platform. And the app itself offers a terrific overall mobile search experience, particularly in maps and local. It’s available this evening in the […]

SearchCap: The Day In Search, November 10, 2009

Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: SEM Lessons From The Fall Of The Berlin Wall Twenty years ago the fall of the Berlin Wall didn’t just change politics in Europe—it changed Europeans behavior. To this day we […]

Google Removes Phone Numbers From 7 Pack

Google has apparently removed phone numbers from the so-called 7 Pack of organic local results. The numbers were present as recently as 24-36 hours ago. Immediately below is an example of a recent search result for “dentist, San Francisco” (within the last several weeks) and then for the same query this morning: The result on […]

SearchCap: The Day In Search, July 6, 2009

Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Google Image Search Makes SafeSearch Toggle Switch Quicker Google Image Search has made it a bit easier to toggle between the three levels of SafeSearch. SafeSearch is the adult image filter […]

SearchCap: The Day In Search, July 1, 2009

Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Google Book Search Now With Cloud Tag The Google Book Search Blog announced a neat new feature that allows you to peek into the book via what is known as a […]

SEO

MapQuest Launches Enhanced Biz Locator, Puts Brands On The Map

MapQuest has beefed up its business locator tool. A scrolling vertical bar now appears on the upper right of every map allowing users to populate any map quickly and simply with different categories of businesses or, in the case of advertisers, with specific brand locations. Here’s what happens when you click the logo for Holiday […]

Google Latitude Turns Maps (For Mobile) Into Social Tool

Google Latitude is now live, a new service from Google that allows you to send your location to Google Maps and share it with friends via many mobile phones (not the iPhone yet, but that’s coming). Some might call the just-launched Google Latitude (part of a new version of Google Maps for Mobile) “son of […]

Google Maps For Mobile Simplifies Directions

According to the Google Mobile Blog, Google Maps has simplified getting directions on your BlackBerry, Nokia, G1 or iPhone — if you have the Maps client downloaded. Previously if users entered a business name on the Maps client as a directions end point, Google might not recognize it. According to the post: Until today, if […]

SEO

Maps Of Fires In Southern California: November 2008 Edition

Fires are burning in Southern California once again. Here’s an update on how to find maps of where the blazes are: NOTE: For the latest fires, see this fire maps section of Search Engine Land, where any updates are listed. Los Angeles Times: Watch the newspaper’s Google Maps account here for the latest maps. Most […]

Google Updates Search Interface For iPhone Users

The Google Mobile Blog announced a new version of Google search for iPhone 2.x users. The new version looks more iPhone like and the search results fit better within the iPhone’s mobile Safari browser. The local results also have “Get Directions” link to the Maps app and a clickable phone number. Here are some screen […]

Google Provides Answers Your Local Search Questions

In an earlier post, I solicited questions for Google about local search. My intention had been to present them at the What’s New in Local Search panel at SMX East this morning. But I didn’t get my act together to distribute them at the session. Google’s Eric Stein, who was on the panel, coordinated the […]

Google Maps Categories: Will The Pain End Soon?

Over the past several weeks I have explored some of the issues involved with categorization of businesses in Google Maps on my blog, Understanding Google Maps. In Part 1, I detailed the more than year-long history of small business frustration. In Part 2, I provided some background on the early research and the difficulty with […]

New “Show Search Options” Broadens Google Maps

As the Google LatLong Blog reports, Google has added a new “show search options” link beside the main search box in Google Maps. This is a very interesting development for several reasons. It’s a pull-down menu that allows you to narrow or expand results for the same query and more easily discover non-traditional content in […]

Universal Search Comes To Google Maps — Sort Of

In something of a whimsical post (“Confessions of a search box“), the Google LatLong Blog says that photos, YouTube videos, and book search results have been added and are now discoverable in Google Maps. The photos are from various sources, including Google-owned Panoramio and Flickr.

SEO

SMX Local & Mobile Recap

The SMX Local & Mobile conference is over now. It took place in Denver over the past two days. In case you were unable to attend, there has been a lot of coverage of the conference. Below are links to the various session notes, pictures, and overall write-ups on the first-ever SMX Local & Mobile:

SEO

Wired Mag Waxes Wordy About Maps & Local

First, for map and online mapping lovers, there is the Wired piece, Google Maps Is Changing the Way We See the World, an interesting survey of the history of the mapping at Google, mashups, mapping APIs, Google’s acquisition of Keyhole (now Google Earth) and user-generated content on maps (My Maps). Then there is the tiresome […]

SEO

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 […]

SEO

SuperPages Cleans Up Its Act

SuperPages cleans up its act? What I mean by that is the new site design is a great deal cleaner and easier to navigate than the old site. Some awkward elements remain, such as old style “disambiguation” pages. But the new results pages are more user friendly and less cluttered. There are also more refinement […]