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The Girl Scouts of Eastern Pennsylvania are apparently the first to offer an online tool to find the nearest “cookie sales booth.” The app, accessible by clicking on the giant thin mint on their site, is put together by an official GS contractor and ultimately taps into Google Maps for directions. It’s sort of too bad senior Scouts didn’t get a chance to build the app themselves…
Chris Silver Smith in the Locals Only column at Search Engine Land takes on the question: How do you get your business in Google Maps if you don’t have a physical address? Who has that sort of problem? Contractors who work out of their trucks - painters, roofers, etc. - who live somewhere but cover a territory elsewhere and who many not want their home addresses listed. The short answer from Michael Jones: get a PO box.
Perhaps the next iteration of local search will be geared more to business territories. Pizza places can geographically draw where they deliver or painters can determine their range, etc.?
Privately owned Terralink has the video topped cars and plans to cover every street in the country in two years. One of its main shareholders is Ian Taylor – the man who pioneered America’s Cup sailing technology - and the data is expected to be sold to public safety, navigation and mapping companies.
The article offers up history and asks the question “what’s it for?”
The key bits:
- the team hopes to release it by end of the year
- the most promising potential use:
“One is to integrate it more fully with Microsoft Virtual Earth, making it that tool that takes users to the next step in deep zoom. ”
The idea is that before you pick up the rental, you use your computer to key in your destinations at the NeverLost website, then save them to a USB device. When you pick up the car, you insert the device and off you go. This solves the time consuming task of keying in the information to the in-car device.
- Hertz Online Trip Planning
