It was not too long ago that Google released their first version of the Onebox. It included three business listings with a map to the left and was triggered only when a local search was conducted. Since then, Yahoo! has updated their version of local blended listings, called Yahoo! Shortcuts, also containing a map to the left of the business listings, very similar to Google. Then Google updated their Onebox once again, adding ten business listings instead of three.
It looks like Microsoft has now thrown their hat in the ring with an update in the look of their blended local results in the SERPs. While Microsoft still has a way to go, hopefully this ongoing trend will continue as it is an indication the search engines are focusing more resources on local searches.
Below you can see the newly updated UI for when a local search is conducted on Live.com or MSN.com
I mentioned earlier that Microsoft still had a long ways to go. This is evident because they are still relying on users to go that extra step and add a state abbreviation to the search query to include local results. In the above example, I searched for “plumber in murrieta ca” but when I search for simply “plumber in murrieta”, without the state abbreviation, I didn’t get the same local results, in fact, I didn’t get any.
In my opinion, Microsoft should focus more on recognizing local searches rather than updating their UI. Any improvement is better than none, however. Hopefully this will get all this cleared up soon, for the sake of the MSN searching population.
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Tags: Local Search, Microsoft, user intent
This certainly sounds interesting. I wonder how the growth of MSN local search will change local mobile search market with MSN Direct service.
I just searched for “sushi san diego” (my favorite local search keyword example) without “ca”, and MSN Live did return with their version of OneBox. So, maybe MSN is still indexing smaller city names, but it definitely recognizes “san diego” and “temecula” without the state abbreviation.
I think MSN Maps does have some good features. I love 1-click directions! I think I might convert to MSN occasionally.
Thanks!
[...] Microsoft’s New Onebox After Google we discussed that Live.com now has a Map next to their local map and pretty much received no recognition for it as we talked about it here. [...]