Do You Know Where You Are? Google Does

"You're in the jungle, baby!"

Google is going local in a big way.  Back on July 9, the company added location to Google Maps for Chrome and Firefox. On Thursday, Google then added a location-based feature to its mobile website on the iPhone.

You need to have the new iPhone 3.0 software in order to use this new functionality.  Just head to Google’s page using Safari on your iPhone and you will see a message below the search box that says, "New! Try My Location to find restaurants, shops and bars near you!"

Click on the "My Location" link and you will get a dialogue box asking if Safari can use your location to recommend services for you.  Then, you will see a blue dot below the search box with your location next to it.  Boom!  You will now get local results when you search.

Of course, Google knows that the privacy nuts will be going bonkers over this one.  Here's what they have to say about that issue:

As always, your privacy is one of our top concerns. Google won’t use your location in search unless you explicitly opt in. And you can always disable the feature from Preferences at the bottom of the homepage.

Scary? Maybe a little...but if you can't beat 'em, join 'em. This feature should bring a whole new level of functionality to Google Search on the iPhone.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Google Brings Location To The Mobile Web On The iPhone (techcrunch.com)
• Behind the "My Location" Errors In Google Maps (tech.slashdot.org)
• Google's Location comes to iPhone's Safari (reviews.cnet.com)
• Daily Search Forum Recap: July 15, 2009 (seroundtable.com)

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Technorati Tags: Google, iPhone, Privacy

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