Google goes local for all searches

 

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By Stuart Turton

Posted on 8 Apr 2009 at 11:53

Google will now automatically serve up local results, whether you enter your location or not.

The search service now immediately compares search terms by your IP address, which should serve up more relevant results.

For example, instead of needing to type in "restaurants around Soho", we can now simply type in "restaurant". Google will then automatically find all the restaurants near our office and provide a map in the search results.

"We try to make our guesses as good as they can be so that whether you're shopping for groceries, sporting goods or flowers, or looking for your bank, your gym or the post office, you can just say what you want, and we'll try to find it right where you are," says Google software engineer Jenn Taylor on the company's blog.

"When you search on Google, we will guess where you are and show results near you. In most cases, we match your IP address to a broad geographical location."

Google also offers a "Change Location" link in the upper-right corner of the page, allowing users to specify a location.