The Praized Blog

Google just announced that you can now embed YouTube videos in merchant profiles in Google Maps. Videos are displayed in the “Photos & Videos” tab in the extended listing bubble that appears when you click on a listing.

“Local business owners can easily add YouTube videos along with other content such as business details, photos, and descriptions to their listings. To do so, simply upload your videos to YouTube and ensure that the ‘embed’ option is turned on. Then, associate your video to your business listing through the Local Business Center.” A bit difficult for the average small merchant but fairly easy if you run a local SEO program.

The Google blog points to this example, I Dream of Cake in San Francisco.

What it means: most major North American directory publishers have launched their local video offer in the last 12 months (often powered by TurnHere or Weblistic). I think this will drastically increase the value proposition for those local videos, if publishers agree to distribute their videos in YouTube and Google Maps. I think they should do it and leverage the enormous amount of traffic found in those two sites.

As this week’s Mobile World Congress slowly winds down (tomorrow’s the last day), I thought it was appropriate to summarize the top 10 trends of the conference as identified by Infoworld magazine.

1. GPS on board. Amongst the manufacturers, Nokia “plans to sell 35 million phones with GPS” this year.
2. Better cameras with “face detection, image stabilization, and the ability to take better pictures in the dark”.
3. Linux. Google Android prototypes. ’nuff said.
4. Movies on your phone.
5. Geotagging that “combines built-in support for navigation and photography. When you take a picture, your location is also saved. Then you can overlay that information on services like Google Maps and see where you’ve been.”
6. Windows Mobile. “Four out of five of the biggest phone makers have phones based on Microsoft’s Windows Mobile operating system”
7. High-speed mobile Internet
8. Wi-Fi on board.
9. FM transmitters.
10. Touch-based interfaces.

What it means: phones are becoming more and more like mini-portable computers and trying to be at the center of your mobile life. In addition, more GPS on board and the geotagging functionality are very exciting stuff for a local search freak like me! I was also intrigued by the better face detection. Expect a day where you can take a picture of someone and, with his/her permission, become a “friend” in a social network…

Google is now showing 10 local listings in all local category searches in their main search results pages. I’ve captured a few examples below. What’s interesting is that no address is shown (only the phone number) but the clickable link goes straight to the merchant’s web site.

Lawyers in Montreal

Doctors in San Francisco

Architects in New York

(As seen on SearchEngineGuide)

CNET’s News.com reports on a new forecast from Swedish analyst firm Berg Insight predicting that “the number of GPS-enabled handsets is set to more than triple during the next five years”.

Growth in the GPS-handset user base should also lead to more applications that use such information, Malm (a telecommunications analyst at Berg Insight) added, pointing to the success of currently available location-based services like Google Maps. “Perhaps it is not right to call them services, but small apps that use location as a filter or enhancement–we will see a lot of that going forward, once developers and users get more used to using location,” he said.

Berg’s press release adds “The availability of accurate position data in mobile devices creates exciting new opportunities for developers of local search, navigation and social networking applications”, said Mr Malm. “Nokia and Google will be two of the foremost players in this arena but there is a good chance that the development will also give birth to the next Facebook or MySpace.”

Flickr photo by Jimmy_Joe

What it means: I am truly excited about these numbers as local, social and mobile combined really has the potential to create the next big web phenomenon. But one thing concerns me currently in that space: the creation of an even playing field. In 1995, barriers to entry on the World Wide Web were low (even non-existent) and allowed the creation of Yahoo and eBay (current combined market cap: $67B). Still today, the barriers to entry for new Web projects remain very low. It’s not the same in mobile where there are a lot of gatekeepers. Handset manufacturers and Telcos come to mind, but the position of strength major portals and search engines enjoy through their relationships with the aforementioned gatekeepers make their stranglehold very difficult to break. Because of that, I wonder if we will see a real innovation burst in mobile/local in the short term. It will come, I have no doubt about it, but it might not come as quickly as it potentially could be.

The Wall Street Journal reports (via ZDNet) on Google’s efforts to disrupt the wireless industry.

Of note:

“Within the next two weeks, Google is expected to announce advanced software and services that would allow handset makers to bring Google-powered phones to market by the middle of next year, people familiar with the situation say.” (…)

“The Google-powered phones are expected to wrap together several Google applications — among them, its search engine, Google Maps, YouTube and Gmail email — that have already made their way onto some mobile devices.” (…)

“Developers could, for instance, more easily create services that take advantage of users’ Global Positioning System location, contact lists and Web-browsing habits. They also would be able to interact with Google Maps and other Google applications. The idea is that a range of new social networking, mapping and other services would emerge, just as they have on the open, mostly unfettered Web. Google, meanwhile, could gather user data to show targeted ads to cellphone users.” (…)

In related news, it looks like Google is the first choice among wireless developers for developing location-enhanced application.

In another related news, YellowPages.com (owned by AT&T) announced the release of a version of their site for the iPhone. According to iLounge, “the new web app can be used by visiting yellowpages.com on an iPhone or iPod touch”

What it means: if I read between the lines, I think Google is trying to get the better of Facebook via their mobile strategy. Google is clearly designing a mobile development platform that will include basic Google applications like search, video, maps and e-mail. Developers will be able to build additional features and functionalities on top of these building blocks (like Facebook apps). Combined with the GPS-enabled phones, you will truly be able to create local social networks.

My friend Eric just sent me an IM to warn me that Google has now launched their coupon search functionality in Google Maps (via Mike Blumenthal’s blog). Some examples:

• restaurant in Buffalo, New York
• all coupons in San Francisco, CA
• all coupons in Toronto, Ontario, Canada

The search function is still buried but this might be the prelude of better exposure for that specific Google product. The Inside Google blog had recently discovered a bunch of coupon-related domain names registered to Google’s name.

What it means: coupons are a great way to track the efficiency of a local ad product as it brings clear traceability to the whole purchase process. Given their strong desire to track advertising ROI, I’m not surprised Google is interested in promoting this feature.

A selection of some of the praized-worthy news in the last few days:

1) ContactAtOnce!, a provider of presence-aware solutions (click-to-call, IM, etc.) just announced that BargainNews.com, one of their customers, improved the conversion rate of its auto classified website by 77% after adding the ContactAtOnce! service (see screenshot below) to their enhanced advertising packages.

2) Bret Taylor and Jim Norris (both seen below), two of the masterminds behind Google Maps and several other Google products, have joined Benchmark Capital as “Entrepreneurs in Residence.” This gives them paid positions to hang out at Benchmark’s offices on Silicon Valley’s Sand Hill Road and think through starting a business. They have a specific idea in mind, but are secretive about it, telling VentureBeat only that it’s a “consumer Internet” company. I’ve had the chance to work closely with Bret when Google launched their Local site in Canada and it was great fun. I wish them both good luck! (via VentureBeat)

3) R.H. Donnelley officially launched DexKnows.com, their new local search web site powered by Local Matters (previously known as Dexonline.com). It now includes comparison shopping, a better mapping experience and some personalization tools.

4) Yellow Pages Group in Canada released their latest heading modifications. It’s always interesting as it gives us a perspective into changes in culture and society. Amongst others, Pilates, Organic Products, Geothermal Energy, Tapas, Brunch, Vegetarian & Vegan Foods are in. Telephone Booths, Shoulder Pads, Chewing Gum and Buttonhole Makers are out.

(via the Google Lat-Long Blog)

Google Maps has offered a collection of reviews assembled from some of the finest sources on the web for some time, but now we’re augmenting those with reviews from an even better source: you — and, we hope, millions of other opinionated Google users. Search for your favorite places and click on the “More Info” link. From there, click on “Write a Review” to start giving your two cents.

What it means: user reviews in a local search site environment are becoming more and more a must-have feature. You should be looking at it if you operate in that space. By the way, this new Google Maps feature means that they are slowly moving from a content aggregation strategy to a content creation strategy in their local search section.

The Eniro Group and Google have signed an agreement for an expanded partnership. The new agreement means that company information from Eniro will also be visible on Google Maps, Google’s local map service, which is launched today in Sweden.

“Expanding the partnership with Google is part of our continuing effort to enhance online advertisers’ visibility and increase the value of their participation in our channels. We are very pleased to have signed this agreement,” says Tomas Franzén, President and CEO of Eniro.

Google and Eniro have had a partnership since 2003 through which Eniro’s web searches are based on Google’s web indexing. Google is also a partner for paid search.

(via company press release)

Update: the Google Maps blog has the news.

What it means: in a fragmented online world, make sure your content is pushed in front of users, wherever they are. The Walled Garden era is clearly over. Great move by Eniro.

(via the Google Maps blog)

For some time now we have been “painting” icons for transit stops into our maps. While it was helpful to be able to see where to catch a train or bus, it left a lot of people wishing they could click on the icon to get more information about a specific station. Now that’s all changed! Depending on the data available for a given public transit system, Google Maps now shows the next departure times, what lines serve a specific station, and/or a link to the transit agency to get more detail. Try clicking on one of the little bus or tram icons on this map of Zurich, Switzerland, to see what we mean. You can also search for stations (for example “59th St - Columbus Circle Station, new york“).

What it means: very zeitgeist-y. Transit system information is becoming more and more important as people decide to leave their car at home to reduce their environmental footprint. If your site uses maps and driving directions (especially local search and directory sites), you should be thinking of embedding similar information. Start discussing with your local transit authorities.