14 DAY TRIAL // Google is focusing on several areas at the moment and one of the big ones is local and location as well as the social elements related to them. While Google has a solid presence in the space, thanks to Google Maps, it's looking to expand it by integrating more functionality beyond the mapping service.
Essentially, Google's mapping and local efforts center on two main areas, Marissa Mayer, Google’s vice president of location and local services, says.
On the one hand, there's the traditional Google Maps and all of the mapping and location services associated with it. Here the focus is on the visualization and the geo-spacial information, where things are, how to get to them and so on.
Google has been expanding on this area for years now, adding new capability like Street View or User photos, more data such as traffic information, more detailed maps and so on.
But Google also has a second big focus centered around Google Places. This is interesting since Places has only been around for a short time. Already though it's on par with Maps, in terms of strategical importance.
While Maps and Places are linked in plenty of ways, the scope of Places is to have information about the locations users might find interesting or useful nearby.
With Places, a variety of data is available to the user, beyond location. The tool integrates reviews, work hours, photos and other information. It's also where Google is hoping to bolt on some social elements.
It's already started that with Hotpot which features reviews from your friends and recommendations based on your own preferences and what your friends liked.
Of course, all of this ties into mobile. In fact, mobile usage of Google's local and location features is on the rise. Just a couple of months ago, 40 percent of traffic came from mobile devices. Today, Mayer said, it's already approaching 50 percent and sometimes overtakes desktop traffic, especially on the weekends.