‘Near me now’ launches on Google search

Google announced the new feature last month, and today it launched on mobile browsers. Go to Google.com, enable your location and click “near me now.” Demo:

Up pops a menu, including “explore right here,” which displays the closest businesses to you, with their reviews. Or you can browse by category, like restaurants, bars and banks.

What’s strikes me about this new feature is 1) It’s a search without a search. Browsing restaurants physically near you, say in the Seattle neighborhood of Ballard, is just like searching for “Ballard restaurants.” 2) Since it’s in the browser — and rather prominent — it will expose a much-larger audience to location-aware search and discovery, driving up the value of Google’s local products.

The feature is currently available for iPhone (OS 3.x) or Android-powered devices with version 2.0.1 or later. More on the feature from Google Mobile’s blog.

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Discussion

View Comments for “‘Near me now’ launches on Google search”

  1. My experience using this suggests that there are serious problems with the data. When I map the results they are literally all over the planet: http://bit.ly/4DsE2M

    Do you see the same issue?

    Posted by matthewhurst | January 8, 2010, 6:04 pm
  2. No. Google is for porn. Semi-useful data as well, but mostly the same five porn companies…surely you know this!

    Posted by The Unknown Known | January 9, 2010, 2:33 am
  3. For all those who tried it with there non-2.0 Android devices:
    “Near me now” is currently available in the US for iPhone (OS 3.x) or Android-powered devices with version 2.0.1 or later.”
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