While the Web and Google have taught us to think global when it comes to looking for information, web searches often fail in the simple task of finding things in our own backyards. Sure, the island of Celebes is the home to Sulawesi Kalossi, but where can I find the finest cup of Sulawesi coffee within walking distance? And even more importantly: do they have free wireless Internet access?
That's not to say that Google isn't paying attention to any mention of locale in your queries. If you were, let's say, to search for scooters san francisco, you would notice a set of local San Francisco finds ["Quick Links" earlier in this chapter] at the top of the results page. As you can see in Figure 1-18, Google also provides addresses, phone numbers, and mileage (from the center of San Francisco, presumably).
Google combines its index with data gleaned from the Yellow Pages to zero in on local results that very often prove interesting and useful.
This data is so interesting, in fact, that Google has taken the service beyond that sprinkling of magic links, launching Google Local (http://local.google.com), a location-aware frontend to the Google search engine. The Google Local home page (Figure 1-19) looks very much like what you're used to from Google, the only real difference being that there are two search boxes instead of just the one: What and Where. In the What box, you type your search query as usual. In the Where box, you can localize your search by providing a city (by itself, if the city is unambiguously well-knowne.g., San Francisco or New York, not Rome or Concord) and a state name or Zip Code.
Before you click the Google Search button, notice that a "Remember this location" checkbox is checked by default so that the next time you visit, Google will fill in your preferred locale for you.
My query for scooters san francisco turned up a nice collection of scooter shops, service centers, and other motorcycle- and scooter-focused results in and around San Francisco, as shown in Figure 1-20. Notice that each of the results is assigned a letter (e.g., San Francisco Scooter Centre is "A") associated with a pin in the map of the area to the right. Each result, as with the magic links, has associated address, phone number, and mileage information; there's also a link to driving directions over at MapQuest.com.
You can further constrain the search using the "Search within: 1 mile - 5 miles - 15 miles - 45 miles" links in the Google Local toolbar or by dropping down into one of the "Show only" categories listed beneath the query fields at the top of the page.
Click one of the results and you're taken not to the site itself (in fact, the business or service may not even have a web site ... shocking, I know!), but to further detail. If the business or service does indeed have a web presence, it's likely to be the first of the references listed. But this isn't necessarily so; for instance, while Figure 1-21, the map zeros in on only that one result and Google appends References to the bottom of the page. These are sites that refer to (and I don't just mean link to) the search result that you're focused on.
While Google Local is still in beta at the time of this writing, it certainly seems to have promise. About the only thing missing at this point is the ability to narrow a locale to the area around a particular address rather than just city or Zip Code.
Yahoo Local (http://local.yahoo.com) actually goes even more local than Google Local, supporting full addresses rather than just city, state, and Zip Code.