Local search could bring in business soon

Metamend, based in Victoria, British Columbia, has introduced a new technology that could help those driving through your town find your business via portable web devices such as cell phones and PDAs.

The technology, which uses a tag on your web site, contains Geographic Information Systems (GIS) data such as your latitude and longitude. Search engines that were set up to pull this information from your site could then load your business location into the portable web device.

This capability could be a boon to businesses that rely on passersby, tourists or travelers, such as shops, theaters, supermarkets, restaurants or gas stations. For example, a traveler in Seattle could type in "sushi" and the cell phone's web search service could call up all restaurants in the proximity that have sushi on the menu and provide directions.

This kind of technology is gaining momentum among device manufacturers. Google is also working on a technology that would provide a mobile search that can use GIS information. The technology is said to have a 99% accuracy rate on a city level when the address data is present in a web address. Momentum is gathering for location-based navigation among search engines and mobile device makers. Web search technology companies including FAST Search & Transfer and Google are working with wireless phone companies to power mobile search that can benefit from locally targeted results. In addition, wireless Internet devices are more often equipped with GPS technology that can track the user's physical whereabouts. Both parties want to localize Web search to make it more relevant and draw more regional advertising dollars.

Metamend, which sells technology that helps companies optimize their Web pages for search engine submissions, developed a service that eases the location-tagging process for Web sites. The technology is said to have a 99 percent accuracy rating on a city level when address data is present within the Web site.

Location targeting is one of the many new concepts search engines are working on to deliver more relevant results to users and, of course, more targeted advertising opportunities to marketers.