Quietly and unheralded, Google has introduced similar functions to the German version of their local search machine.  German users can now limit their results according to a chosen locality and/or the quality of the suppliers (at least, according to the number of stars earned in the user ratings), thus enabling even further personalization.

After the initial search request, the user clicks a “Refine by Neighborhood/User Rating” link, which then generates the requested filtered results.  BTW, if one wants to use the “Refine by Distance” option, one needs to have originally entered both a place name, and also either a post code, street or city neighborhood.  Without the additional criterion, this option will not be displayed.