MSN Comes up with Local Search Service

Written by Administrator

Tuesday, 21 June 2005

MSN will launch a Beta (trial) version of a new Local Search Service a spokesman has announced. A tab on the search panel will return a location specific listing for businesses and people and place the result onto a map from the company's MapPoint Web Service. MSN Local Search will also feature aerial images taken from the company's TerraServer-USA database when that becomes available, says Erik Jorgensen, general manager of MSN Local Search and Maps. In addition to detailed listings, the local service will also offer relevant Web pages, by using an existing MSN technology called Near Me that identifies pages in the search engine's general index with location-specific tags. For example, a search for "dry cleaners" in Dallas would not only offer a list of dry cleaning outlets, but it might also turn up a newspaper article concerning dry cleaning services in the area. When MSN Virtual Earth becomes available, hopefully by September, MSN Local Search will link to that too so that views of specific premises and driving routes to get to them will be enabled. Searchers will be able to get a feeling of what an area looks like and pick out facilities like restaurants and theatres for example. "We're still in the early stages of local search. There's still a lot we can do to improve and further innovate," Jorgensen says. This new service fills a gap for Microsoft , MSN is somewhat behind its main search engine competitors in local searching options. Google, Yahoo, Ask Jeeves, and AOL all have local search tab options. Google, in particular, allows users to see not only maps but also satellite and aerial images, a concept in the same frame as the one Microsoft is looking at with MSN Virtual Earth. Interest in local search services has grown as users realise the attractions of doing searches that limit results geographically, an invaluable feature when looking for businesses and places. Obviously, local search is attractive to advertisers too, particularly those who operate in localised areas because they can target their advertising dollars at Web searchers looking for information about their location. Reuben Dunn Jump2Top.Com Search Engine Optimization Company

Last Updated ( Tuesday, 21 June 2005 )

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