A German version of Google’s local search engine has been online since April 2006. Now Google has launched a localized search service extending the coverage to Austria and Switzerland.

The above was announced in a press-release from the news agency Pressetext. The Swiss local variation of Google Maps is accessed using maps.google.ch and for Austria under the similar URL maps.google.at.  This means that localized Swiss and Austrian searches for location-specific firms or service providers are now possible, with the results generated in the respective terrain, hybrid or satellite views offered.  In both cases, route planning is also offered.

In an interview with Pressetext, the product manager of Google Maps, Christoph Oehler explained that the new services were not merely translations of those existing. The country-specific services have been customized with the cooperation of local partners.

Similar to that of other Google Maps, country-specific editions, firms and providers in Austria and Switzerland are able to register their undertakings free of charge with Google Maps, and edit their entries, in being able to augment basic location information with opening times, payment modes accepted or photos.  Further, as in existing localized versions, Google allows its users to actively participate in content-creation- every registered user can also rate the discovered provider/business and also create user-specific maps.

For those who would like to use these new services, they should bookmark these URLs. Unlike that in Germany, where Google Maps is prominently displayed as a link in the Google Portal, the new services for Austria and Switzerland are not [at time of writing] displayed in either local portals (www.google.at and www.google.ch respectively). In fact, neither versions are yet listed under the “further products” [‘weitere Produkte'] link.