google maps - Internet Marketing News and Blogs

Google has turned to a new tactic to boost its local search services, offering people money to go door-to-door and collect information about small businesses.

The Google ‘Local Business Referrals’ programme, now launched in the US and expected to be introduced in the UK at some point, will see independent contractors gathering data for its Google Maps database.

Google Maps has created a facility that allows users to add reviews and ratings for listed businesses.

The search giant's maps site has long aggregated consumer views from reviews sites around the web, but now allows users to add their own views directly on the map.

Congratulations to UK property search engine Nestoria following the news that it has been selected by Google for a case study on the use of the Google Maps API.

Local is getting hotter by the day. More people are using search to find local businesses, and the Kelsey Group seems to report on a new potential value ($31.1bn in 2010) of the local search industry each week.

Google has launched a set of free map-making tools in a bid to encourage more web users to develop mash-ups using its Google Maps platform.

MyMaps, as they are called, have been designed by the web giant to help non-techies create customised online maps and share information about their local neighbourhoods, holidays and so on.

Vodafone is to partner with Google to provide a version of Google Maps for users of its mobile phones.

Vodafone said it will, in conjunction with Google Maps, provide easy-to-use maps and local listings, as well as local search and navigation capabilities.

Mashup enthusiasts will be pleased to hear that the Ordnance Survey is to release an API for non-commercial applications.

The organisation – whose data access policy has long been the subject of debate – announced the move at an event in its Southampton HQ on Friday.

Get some, get some – Google Maps is inviting local business owners to add their company listing to its maps alongside a printable coupon, which can be redeemed offline by consumers.
 
The move, a push to increase listings and increase reach among SMEs, is interesting not least for the offline focus.

The French government has instructed Greenpeace to remove a webpage featuring a customised Google Map with details of the locations of Monsanto’s genetically-modified cornfields.

The ban, issued via a French court, flies in the face of EU law, which states that this sort of information should be made available to the public by governments.