Apple Maps + Local Search Kicks Google Maps to the Curb in iOS 6
June 11th, 2012 by
Along with 200+ other new features on the new iOS6, the long awaited improvement to driving directions on your iPhone and iPad is here. No, it’s not a new and improved Google Maps app, but a homebrewed maps solution by Apple, including a local search database. As if I didn’t love Apple enough already, they’ve come up with something that can trump even Google Maps.
Apple’s press release today states “Local search includes information for over 100 million businesses with info cards that offer Yelp ratings, reviews, available deals and photos.”
Thanks to Greg Sterling’s Search Engine Land post, we know that Localeze is powering the local search listings database. You may recall that Localeze also the sole provider of Facebook Places data when it was first released.
How does this affect you as a business owner?
Well, if Google Maps have given you trouble in the past, you’re in luck. If you are one of the many businesses whose customers relied on GMaps to get them to you, you may have less customers driving to the wrong location now, provided your Localeze information is up-to-date and correct.
To ensure your business information is correct through Localeze, you can always submit to Localeze.com. There is a premium fee in order to get listed directly with their team; you should be sure to ask them about what’s already listed in their database that may already have your name, address, or phone number on it. Updating of your Localeze information comes with any organic or local SEO service with Search Influence, so if you’re working with us or plan to, you can rest easy that this is covered. (Of course, there are always some issues that might be stickier to solve, so just let us know if you think Localeze has got you wrong!)
We feel a bit better about directions being powered by this database, as we’ve found it much easier to “clean up” your presence if there are issues. The Google Maps system pulls from many different data sources, but since Localeze is just one, clean-up will be much easier to take on. It doesn’t hurt that this update brings a fresh face lift to the app, as well as turn-by-turn directions.
In addition to checking up on Localeze, you’ll also want to check up on your Yelp listing(s), including the sentiment of your ratings and reviews. These will also be integrated, just as they already are with Siri.
There will definitely still be lots to learn once we get our hands on iOS 6 and get to test out our customers’ listings in the new database, so until then, stay tuned!
