Google Adds Location Targeted Searching

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Google Adds Location Targeted Searching

Posted by ryuzaki0 on Tuesday September 23, 2003 @04:45AM from the where-am-i dept.

miradu writes "Many Slashdot users may remember that the winner of last year's Google programming contest's entry was a location specific search. Now, Google has made a version of Daniel's idea available to use on Google Labs. Google Search By Location lets you search for things near some zipcode, or city/state. It then gives you a map with each search result pinned on it. V"

11 of 326 comments (clear)

Useful service by esconsult1 · 2003-09-23 04:45 · Score: 5, Interesting

Is google going to eventually require some kind of stripped down registration for this service? They've slowly (over the past year or so), started to roll out a pervasive registration for their various services (Adsense, Adwords), and optional registration would make sense here too.
On the other side of things, Google stands to make a killing here. Google can sell a new class of ads to people like plumbers, who don't need a webpage. In fact, they could possibly host a minimal web page for those kind of advertisers who just want to show some simple text and services.
Hey, perhaps Google wants to give me some kind of idea fee???

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Great, but... by Anonymous Coward · 2003-09-23 04:46 · Score: 5, Funny

How come when I search for the location of "Hot single geek chicks" there are no results found?
1. Re:Great, but... by orangepeel · 2003-09-23 05:02 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  body temperature of 40C or greater
  
  So you're searching for SARS victims?
  
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OMG! Google got slashdoted! by bflong · 2003-09-23 04:48 · Score: 5, Funny

Server Error
The server encountered a temporary error and could not complete your request.
Please try again in a minute or so.

Does anyone have a link to the google cache of this page?

er.... nevermind...

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1. Re:OMG! Google got slashdoted! by no+soup+for+you · 2003-09-23 04:54 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  Sometimes it decides on its own to break for a nice pot of Earl Grey and some fresh silicon wafers. We'll keep it running as much as possible, but please bear with us as we work to make it faster and more reliable.
  
  From the Google Search By Location FAQ
  
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  If you blog it...
Yahoo Yellow Pages by Dan+East · 2003-09-23 04:53 · Score: 5, Interesting

How is this different from Yahoo Yellow Pages ( http://yp.yahoo.com )? I've been using that service for half a decade. It searches by zipcode / address as well.

Dan East

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Better known as 318230.
A search for... by Anonymous Coward · 2003-09-23 04:54 · Score: 5, Funny

goats near Christmas Island is too disturbing for me.
Maybe not such a good thing? by GreenCrackBaby · 2003-09-23 05:09 · Score: 5, Interesting

Slashdot seems to be very pro-Google, and I admit to using their search the majority of the time as well, but everyone should at least take a glance at google watch. Of most interest is the privacy section. If any other site were to track the stuff Google does, /. would be up in arms protesting.

"Google currently does not allow outsiders to gain access to raw data because of privacy concerns. Searches are logged by time of day, originating I.P. address (information that can be used to link searches to a specific computer), and the sites on which the user clicked. People tell things to search engines that they would never talk about publicly -- Viagra, pregnancy scares, fraud, face lifts. What is interesting in the aggregate can seem an invasion of privacy if narrowed to an individual."

Please note, this isn't a troll, and I'm not wearing a tin-foil hat (maybe I should?). Imagine the following scenario: a bomb goes off in the US. By tracing searches for "anarchist cookbook" to zipcodes within the area of the bomb blast, the FBI could have access to information that makes TIA look like a better alternative.

Maybe this isn't such a good feature after all...

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"The market alone cannot provide sufficient constraints on corporation's penchant to cause harm." -- Joel Bakan
1. Re:Maybe not such a good thing? by docwardo · 2003-09-23 05:13 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  Question here:
  
  But all this info IP address, variable values, and sites on which the user clicked....
  
  isn't that all just from most standard web server log?
  
  Technically doesn't /. record every page I click on, my orginating IP address and any searches I perform?
nope... by professorhojo · 2003-09-23 05:14 · Score: 5, Funny

it doesn't know where saddam is either...

ph
Re:Great, but... (the three Ls) by gosand · 2003-09-23 05:17 · Score: 5, Funny

How come when I search for the location of "Hot single geek chicks" there are no results found?
You should probably change the location to something other than "my parent's basement".

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