The New Google Mobile Local - Plenty of Information Available

Even with the limitations of text messages, you can still access a variety of information: local business listings similar to the mobile local search, driving directions, weather, stocks, dictionary definitions, movie times, and prices from Froogle. All you need to know is how to ask for the information. A local search via SMS can be as simple as entering the same information you’d have entered otherwise, the “what” and “where,” in a text message and sending it off to Google.

Enter “Walmart Sunrise FL” or “Walmart 33351” and you may get a few results, but you’re still limited by Google’s directories. So, if one Walmart had repetitive entries in a mobile search, you’ll likely receive similar results. Also, since the SMS is limited to text only, you won’t see the maps you would on a Mobile Local search. You also won’t have links to dial the numbers or links to driving directions, just the address and telephone number.

To get driving directions, you’ll have to send another text message. Driving directions need to be entered in a “from” and “to” format. Addresses, cities and states, major cities, zip codes, and airports can all be used to define a location. A search might look something like “from ftl to 3306 N University Dr 33351.” The message Google will return will closely resemble the numbered list of directions from the Mobile Local Search.

Other features can be accessed the same way: “weather” and a city/zip will retrieve local weather, a movie title and a city/zip will retrieve local show times, “price” and a product will bring back Froogle price comparisons, and so forth. For more of Google’s SMS directions, you can visit http://www.google.com/sms/howtouse.html. To see Google’s other mobile offerings, pull up http://mobile.google.com.