This is, of course, a major development as it now gives all your Google searches a very specific context: that of your location. By using Google Local, your search is conducted based on your current, and yet ever-changing, location.

Naturally, this is best suited to mobile GPS-equipped devices (iPhone, Android, smartphones with GPS, etc.) and especially if you are on the move.

It is only now that searches for terms such as "gas station", "ATM", "super market", "hospital" make sense, because, traditionally, when searching using such keywords, we would always also specify our location, trying to find the correct balance between the exact current location name, and the one that would appear in the website. But now, our search results come sorted according to which is nearest us.

As a sidenote, it is interesting to see how this will transform the keyword value for google adwords, because in the past few years sites had been designed and written in a way that would perform well for searches such as e.g. "thessaloniki gas station", but not necessarily for the simpler "gas station" search.

The search results also contain direct links for navigation on my iPhone (Google Maps opens up with the destination already pre-inserted for you).

From playing with it a bit (to see if I can rely on it, in case of need) I found that, in general, it's not quite as good (taking note of the overall experience) as my navigation app, but then again that costs good money and this is completely free.

It is certainly enough to get by if you're out and about, and probably better than what I expected, especially when testing it in the small island of Rhodes I'm currently on. I expected this to be the sort of thing that still only works in big cities, and mostly abroad.

In particular, I really liked that it worked straight away! This is a big big plus, for me at least, because there's so many new things I try out every day and very few of them succeed in this. I just went to google.com (had to switch to mobile view -- this was the only catch), turned on location (there was a slider just below the search input box) and confirmed the standard iPhone native prompt for the app requiring permition. That was it!

This worked in that the correct results came up first and second but from the third result onwards every ATM that came up was in Turkey, even though the search keyword was in greek!! As you can see in the screenshot on the left, the third result, though 'only' 32 miles away, is abroad, and across sea, which requires a different means of transport altogether... Driving, getting a bus, or walking is not the same as getting a boat!

Enough to get by, and the navigation directions were correct, so it gets a pass, but can't give it high marks.

Terrible! The only search results that came up were in Turkey... Bit of a pain to get across just to get some cash out... Especially if you don't have any cash on you!!

Unfortunately -- because money makes the world go round -- Google Local fails to get a pass here. You can't get by without cash, and it would have gotten you to an ATM that is not just far away, but in a different country!

This is probably the most useful type of search if you're driving around places you don't know, or at least the one I find myself most often looking for.

GPS / Navigation systems definitely have the edge on this one, because you can even select the petrol brand in the upcoming stations on your route, and the experience in general feels much more natural in my navigation app.

Still, if you were without one, it would get you by, so again, though I can't give it high marks it gets a pass.

This wasn't exactly sorted by distance, (check out the screenshot to see what I mean), and because of this I didn't know how much to trust it.

Still, I really liked the rating feature nicely embedded in the hotel search (I guess I just hadn't noticed it before, because I don't think this is only in Google Local). Reviews really help me in picking hotels, so this would have made my decision much easier.

This is a plus over other GPS / Navigation systems I've used, that don't provide such information.

The Bed & Breakfast section of 'Near Me Now' worked better, however, and overall I can certainly give it a pass.

This was fine, and also shared the really useful star-rating feature. The place is full with tavernas here, so what you need as a visitor is the recommendations from other people who have already tasted the food / seen the environment.

Very useful and even though I wouldn't rely on every restaurant or taverna having a web site / or web presence, it is much better than a blind choice, so I'm giving it a pass with good marks.

Note: Rhodes is a big tourist destination, one of the biggest in Greece, with most of the tourists coming from abroad. It is also an expensive tourist destination, so in that sense, even though it is a small island, it has good web presence, so I'm not sure the results for other similar size islands will be the same.

Also, I should note that not everything works. I thought I'd found the most useful type of visualisation, with the option to 'Map All Results' in your area, however, as you can see in the screenshot, something went wrong there, because the same results that show gas stations in Rhodes, are shown all over the globe, across continents. Definitely something for Google to attend to because I think this would really stand out as something extremely useful.

As a final note, I found that if all search results were far away, I was always using an inappropriate search term, and changing the search keyword worked and gave me better results. This worked as a good indicator of whether I was running the 'correct' search.

I hope this is the start; many more services can benefit from adding location as context, and I'm sure there's plenty to come soon. Wait till you see what happens when Facebook or Twitter does it...

I came across this article about a bluetooth proximity marketing campaign that took place a few weeks ago in Wrexham, UK.

The British Police has run a number of such drink awareness campaigns in the past so this is not something entirely new, but it is good to be seeing more and more of these campaigns out there. It is just confirming how widely mobile marketing can be used not just in promotional marketing campaigns but also to raise social awareness in such issues.

From the article:

Gencia’s “Bloowire” Bluetooth marketing tool is being used in Wrexham this weekend in a Home Office and council partnership to cut violent crime.

TV monitors will encourage drinkers to download a number of applications to their mobiles, including a Beer Goggles game which demonstrates what effects alcohol can have on their judgement.

More seriously there will be personal safety messages aimed at young women to encourage them to travel home safely.

“Bluetooth offers us a modern and measurable way to engage young people with key messages around alcohol and Gencia were chosen because of their experience of delivering full campaign strategies rather than just the technology itself,” explained North Wales Police Sergeant Dave Marsden.

In January this year, the Manchester agency was brought in to use Bluetooth proximity marketing in Liverpool city centre on another drink awareness campaign, this time for Liverpool Trading Standards and Merseyside Police.

If you are interested, feel free to browse through some past related articles:

I recently came across this great little ad from Ford, that advertises the availability of Bluetooth in all of its latest vehicles:


Great ad, which I just had to share with you all, but more importantly the point is that Bluetooth has certainly overcome the point when it was 'just another new wireless' protocol and has now become a standard which is being used in all sorts of devices.

Bluetooth in cars is still, in my opinion, underused, however! Just imagine how much you can do, if you break the boundary of the wireless hands-free headset, and venture into things such as cars talking to each other.

Why can't cars tell each other when they are too close / how much parking space we have left / if they are on a collision course / if there's a hole-bump-dangerous turn in the road ahead of us, which they've just seen, etc, etc.

I see mobile phones as the other communication end between us and the car -- i.e. we need a(n even more intelligent) mobile to get us talking to the car, so there is certainly plenty of room for brainstorming there too. This post is enough food for thought to get you started! (Even though the underlying technologies are not exactly the same -- this is just food for thought)!

This was a bit of a rumble, but just the thought of cars intelligently talking to each other to save us some of the hassle -- as well as some of the dangers -- that driving entails, got me a bit carried away..

One of the recent developments in Greece was the takeover of Olympic Air by the Marfin Investment Group (MIG), which took place a few months back. This came to end a long period during which the Olympic Airlines had slowly built up a huge debt, as a public sector company, and the Government decided to privatise the company, in an attempt to 'save it'.

Regardless of your view and mine on the privatisation of public sector businesses (this was a major issue of debate back then here in Greece and you are welcome to discuss it further if you wish in the comments below), the move has certainly brought in some positive developments -- at least from a mobile marketing point of view.

Olympic Air has recently announced it is now offering interactive mobile services, such as mobile check-in and live departure information.

Here's the information directly from the Olympic Air website:

Olympic Air gives you the option to check-in by means of any mobile device connected to the internet. You can now easily and quickly check-in during meeting breaks, at your hotel or even on the way to the airport.

Passengers can select their, receive their boarding card via SMS or email and enjoy the journey with one of the youngest fleets in Europe.

Using the 2D barcode technology, the passenger can store the link to the boarding pass in his incoming messages (SMS) or email as well as all the relevant flight information and he no longer needs to use a printer.

The service is available 23 hours to 1 hour before departure and only for Athens airport. The boarding passes via mobile phone are recognized at controls and when boarding the plane (currently supported only by Athens international airport)

MOBILE CHECK-IN Advantages

• Check-in on the way to the airport yourself
• Select your seat
• The boarding card is stored in the incoming messages (SMS) or your email
  

Admittedly, neither of these is cutting edge stuff, nor is this the first time these type of services has been offered by an airline / airport. I've posted a number of articles before (see below) about such services, because the sector is very open to mobile marketing approaches, and there is great value for travelers in the services offered.

Still, it is great to be finally seeing this here in Greece too! I am confident if Olympic Air make sure their service works the greek public will soon adopt and encourage such initiatives. (For example, we are not best known for our patience as a people, so WHY NOT!? save ourselves the hassle of queueing up for check-in and doing it on our mobile phones..)

If you are interested for further reading, you can also check out these past posts on mobile marketing in airports, from a number of airlines around the world: