Paid Local Listings on Google

As the growth of mobile web and marketing skyrockets, Googles’ global reach still continues to drive local search. Location data are being mined as a new source of understanding that marketers can gather to improve the effectiveness of their efforts. If we travel to another country, we become a local when it comes to exploring goods and services. Even though the internet is making the world a little smaller on our computer screens, we forget that we still live in communities divided by boundaries and bodies of water. Basically, Googles’ announcement indicates that they are getting serious about local and mobile search.

Google has added Chicago, Seattle, Dan Diego, Boulder and San Francisco to their test cities in San Jose and Houston in getting a <TAG> for your business listing (know as Enhanced Listing) for $25/month. One can also apply for an option where Google taken interior pictures of your business.

Other data that Google released as part of their announcement:

• More than 4 million business listings on Google claimed by business owners (using the Local Business Center, now Google Places)
• Nearly 2 million listings have been claimed in the United States
• 20% of searches on Google are related to location
• There are 50 million Place Pages
• Place Pages are viewed millions of times each day
• We have mailed out Favorite Places window decals to around 200,000 businesses around the United States