Nokia Search

Local Search: The Neighborhood at Your Fingertips

Say you just moved to a new town, with your car coughing like a two-pack-a-day smoker the last few miles. A quick look under the hood reveals you have no clue what the problem is. Time to find a mechanic. But which one? Who’s closest to your new home? Who specializes in older, foreign vehicles, like yours? A local search can provide the answer. Boot up the laptop, go to your favorite search engine, and plug in your town name and “auto mechanic” “or “auto repairs,” perhaps throwing in your auto’s make as well. You’re on your way to bringing the car back to health.

The goal of local search isn’t new. For decades, people have gotten information on local retailers or service providers by picking up the Yellow Pages, scanning ads in newspapers, or asking friends. Even in the early days of online searching, web users might have looked for retailers by typing in their city name and the kind of business they wanted. But in those days, virtual Yellow Pages were crude or non-existent, and few local retailers or small-time service providers had their own websites. Even today, several million small companies have fewer than nine employees, and these small-time shops are not likely to have a web presence. But the essence of local search is not about finding a web site to get general information about a company or a concept. Local search can help consumers find the brick-and-mortar businesses close to home that serve their everyday needs, such as medical practices, law offices, restaurants, and specialty stores.

And a local search doesn’t have to be centered on where you are now. If you’re planning a trip, you may want to know specifics before you leave: Where to find a sizzling steak near your hotel, or a Santa Fe shop that specializes in the local favorite chile.. Either while you’re still at home or once you reach your destination, a local search can direct you to the goods and services you seek.

Within the past two or three years, the large web portal/search sites have tried to refine local searching, and several new companies have specifically targeted the local search market. With its Maps feature, Google lets you specify a location and then search for local businesses. The one search gives you the information you need and shows you how to get there. To get even more local, use a Zip code instead of a city name. Live Local at MSN and Yahoo Local provide similar features, as do the various virtual phone directories, and many local newspapers are adding local search engines to their sites, often through one of the more established search companies. To make its site stand out, Google just introduced printable coupons for local businesses listed in its Local Business Center. The coupons will only be available through searches done at Google Maps.

One company was founded purely on the basis of meeting web users’ local buying needs. For Tim Nye, a general web search couldn’t help him find a local store that sold running shoes. His frustrating quest led Nye to start TrueLocal, with the sole purpose of helping consumers find local brick-and-mortar stores. The site now indexes more than 13 million companies in the United States. Although its results link to some company websites, TrueLocal seeks to list businesses that don’t have websites and may not have considered the Web a useful part of their marketing. TrueLocal and others in the growing local-search industry try to attract these small companies by pointing out the importance of local searches. A 2004 online survey conducted by Kelsey Group-BizRate.com showed that almost half the people who search locally intend to buy locally as well, and three out of four respondents make local searches. And with TrueLocal or other local search engines, a neighborhood travel agent doesn’t have to compete for attention with an online giant like Expedia.

With local search being such a large part of life for so many consumers, what’s the next step? Mobile local search. An increasing number of cell phone users have web access, and searching for local businesses when you’re already on the road is a logical use of local search capabilities.