Google Search Provides a “Near Me Now” Option

Carolina Usbeck - January 20, 2010

Google has created a new option available for iPhones users and Android phones. This option appears when viewing Google’s website and uses the GPS of the phones to provide a search result within the area the user of the phone is located.

To use this feature, the “Near me now” option needs to be selected. This option is located below the Google search button and prompts the user asking if it’s ok for Google to use the current location.

After selecting the “Near me now” options you can update the current location by selecting the “update” option located on the same area as the near me now option. This feature displays multiple search options that allow users to narrow their search and make browsing on a mobile phone easier and faster.

The options available for search include restaurants, bars, ATMS/banks and an even wider selection is available when selecting the “browse more categories” option which includes shopping, gas and automotive, and healthcare, among others.

There is also an option to “star” a place and view the listing of all the places you have previously “stared”. This is available by selecting the star icon located at the right corner of the listing results.

When it comes to SEO, we see that searches from mobile devices are continuing to change to make its use easier for mobile users, as seen by this new implementation created by Google. For this reason, it is essential to place the location of your office or sub offices on your site and be part of Google’s local search. Even though this feature is only available for iPhones and Android phones, I would not be surprised to see it appear in the near future on more mobile devices.