Category Archives: local search

Text to self: buy milk

Posted on March 6, 2007 by Rakesh Agrawal

I finally broke down and signed up for an SMS plan. Since then, I’ve been texting myself key nuggets of information: Airline and hotel confirmation numbers Addresses and phone numbers of new restaurants I’m trying Shopping lists The easiest way … Continue reading →

Posted in aol, gps, im, local search, mobile, sms, wireless, yahoo, yellow pages | 3 Comments

How much will my commute suck today? Ask Google

Posted on March 1, 2007 by Rakesh Agrawal

I was checking out Google Maps yesterday and noticed the addition of traffic to the map. It showed that traffic for the ride home was much worse than I’ve ever seen on a Wednesday night. Figuring it was a first-day … Continue reading →

Posted in aol, google, local search, maps, yahoo | 4 Comments

World Explorer: A new way to look at the world

Posted on January 19, 2007 by Rakesh Agrawal

The folks at Yahoo! Research have used flickr’s APIs to create a new way to look at the world. The TagMaps take tags from flickr and plot them on Yahoo! maps. The current implementation is slow and the display of … Continue reading →

Posted in city guides, flickr, geotagging, gps, local search, maps, travel | 3 Comments

Rooftops and Google Maps

Posted on November 29, 2006 by Rakesh Agrawal

I was flying into Atlanta yesterday and as the plane descended to the runway, I noticed that one of the buildings on the ground with a giant bullseye on it – Target. Next to it, there was a building with … Continue reading →

Posted in aol, google, local search, maps, yellow pages | 1 Comment

Abuse risks with Google click-to-call

Posted on November 20, 2006 by Rakesh Agrawal

R. Franklin pointed me to a blog entry by Lauren Weinstein about the potential risks of a service like Google’s click-to-call Because Google doesn’t verify that the number you enter belongs to you, it is easy to use the service … Continue reading →

Posted in google, local search, maps, yellow pages | Comments Off

Google Maps adds click-to-call

Posted on November 19, 2006 by Rakesh Agrawal

Google Maps now offers a free click-to-call service. When you see a phone number, you can click a “call” link, enter your phone number and Google will call you and the business. The feature worked flawlessly; my phone rang almost … Continue reading →

Posted in advertising, google, local search, maps, yellow pages | 2 Comments

Following local search to nowhere

Posted on October 10, 2006 by Rakesh Agrawal

One of the big frustrations I have with local search is that the data is often old. With many sites, the information can be 18 months old. More than once I’ve driven to businesses that were no longer in business. … Continue reading →

Posted in city guides, google, local search, web 2.0, yellow pages | Comments Off

Public transit and online maps

Posted on October 2, 2006 by Rakesh Agrawal

Google Labs has expanded its transit planner service to include Eugene, Ore., Honolulu, Hi., Pittsburgh, Pa., Seattle, Wash. and Tampa, Fla. The service started last year in Portland, Ore. This slick service integrates with Google Maps and lets you plan … Continue reading →

Posted in google, local search, maps, microsoft, transit, web 2, web 2.0 | 3 Comments

Geotagging the world with Flickr

Posted on August 29, 2006 by Rakesh Agrawal

At long last, Flickr has released a geotagging interface. Geo tagging is the process of applying longitude and latitude data to assets – in Flickr’s case, to images. Why would you want to do this? It’s easiest to explain with … Continue reading →