Archive for January, 2008
New search option refinements for Yahoo! Local
3 Jan. 2008 | Author:
In August [2007] the US-version of Yahoo! Local was completely overhauled [see our post]. Now Yahoo! has added further functionality to their local search engine.
As to be discovered in Yahoo! Local & Maps Blog, users are now able to narrow down their search queries using additional filter options. As a result, Shawn Bolan, Production Manager of Yahoo! Local informs that one now should be easily able to find the company or service provider that on is searching for.
In the results list, under the sponsored links, a new horizontal menu is visible, where all searches are able to apply additional filter options. For example, when one searches for a really special/specific restaurant, the user is able to specify various categories, including type (Chinese, pizza, etc.), atmosphere (e.g. family, quiet, etc.) as well as the neighborhood or even a radius from home. In addition one can then reorder the search results among various criteria, including distance or ratings.
Another additional feature is the ability to subscribe to a RSS-feed linked to the various areas of the site, for example, the helpful suggestions/ratings of another user that one has found to be relevant or in agreement with personal tastes. When this person rates another business, one can be notified immediately per RSS.
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Google Maps: Street View expanded further
In the USA-version of Google Maps the user now can access eight further cities in the United States using the “Street View” feature.
These panoramic views, showing the most important and interesting areas of these respective cities – such as the city centers or major thoroughfares – were launched for 5 metropolitan areas in May 2007. Since then Google has continuously expanded its coverage (see our post).
To the initial list (San Francisco, New York, Las Vegas, Miami and Denver), Google Street View’s latest inclusions are Boston, Dallas, Fort Worth, Indianapolis, Minneapolis, St. Paul, Detroit and Providence, RI. This was announced in Andrew Lookingbill’s post in Google LatLong Blog. The count of cities now covered by Google Street View totals 23.
Completely new, according to Lookingbill, is the ability to easily embed these 360º panoramic views into users’ websites or blogs. In reality, this is really easy – all one needs to do is copy the HTML-snippet (under “link to this page”), and insert it accordingly into one’s own web pages.
