Saturday, March 06, 2010

Nairn businesses on Googlemaps

More evidence of how Google is taking over the world can be had on the Googlemaps site.
When you arrive on Googlemaps you are looking at a map of the USA but if you put 'Nairn' in the search box you will be given the option to click on 'Nairn UK', you'll be asked 'did you mean'. Once on the google map page for Nairn UK you can search with 'shops' for example and this is what you see if you zoom in on the map. If you are a business owner you can add information to your page once Google verify your status as owner. If you are a customer you can add reviews too. A similar search for accommodation will give you a page of hotels. The Windsor is owner verified and has more information and pictures. 130 customers have submitted reviews up to now and they can be read at your leisure if you are say a tourist looking for somewhere in Nairn.

It is hard to see how the world's biggest search engine can fail to dominate this type of Internet business research facility. Any business can list on Google maps for free, there is even an explanatory video showing you how to do this. Will Google eventually dominate all advertising, including the local scene?

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