Local search is the next hot battle ground of search engine. It’s basically a dynamic online yellow page of all kinds of business. People using local search are with more clear goal in mind. So it more likely results into a real purchase. Everyone sees the opportunity here. How are the players doing now?
Google local search is merged with map search. When you type location plus business category as the keyword in search box, you will get a list of relevant candidates in the left sidebar and a digital map on the right side with several balloons indicating each store’s location. In its US version, you can click and call the store directly. While in its Chinese version, there’s a feature to send the result to your cell phone. Google local search provides detailed information, pictures, and relevant pages about each store.
Baidu local search is similar to Google. It’s also merged with map search, but with less information and less feature. Baidu also has a yellow page search. But there’s more ads than content. Yahoo local search goes a different approach. It’s quite different from its US version. In China, it takes a model like Dianping (profile). The main part of the service is driven by community review.
Among the three, Baidu’s local search seems to be the weakest. There’s a new local search engine Aibang launched in Beijing by Zhou Limin, former chief architect of Baidu. Liu Jianguo, former CTO of Baidu is said to be an advisor of the startup. Both of them left Baidu by the end of last year. QQ has the story.
Aibang takes an approach similar to Yahoo. User review is the main part the service. It puts more emphasis on user interaction. Every user has a profile with his review history. Users can rate reviews by other people, submit new stores or update existing information.
Aibang places user on a more important role in the system. It intends to build a platform for people to help each other. Currently the product is in pre-marketing stage. You won’t feel many users in the system. This also shows there’s no guarantee that users will adopt this model.Aibang, local search
Baidu Local Search Sucks, Ex-Employee Sees It
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这不就是我们步峰哥的作品么
当然要顶！
说真的
步峰算嫁对人了~
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在大家各自忙于口水战的时候
aibang悄无声息的上线了
“我叫过的好-我赞过的人-我挑过的刺-我扁过的人”
我一直觉得，低调的公司很可怕
它们会像毒气一样弥漫扩散
等你发觉时，已经无药可救了~
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