Google has added the “My Location” feature to its mobile search, which previously had only been available on Google Maps for Mobile. My Location recognizes your location (go figure) and gives you relevant search results based on where you are.
Instead of having to enter your geographical information, you can just automatically receive geographically relevant results. This will be a lot easier than texting out more information. Google displays the concept in this silly video:
If you don’t feel like sitting through the video, the company also summed it up pretty nicely on the Google Mobile Blog:
Previously, when you went to google.com from your phone’s browser and performed a local search, the results were tailored to the last location you entered. Now, using the Gears Geolocation API, Search with My Location approximates your actual location using the same Cell ID technology used by Google maps for mobile. So if you want to find sushi nearby, just type “sushi” and Google will return local business listings around you. If you want to know the forecast, type “weather”. If you want to search somewhere else, specify a location in the query like “pizza Kansas City”.
Whenever Google does anything, particularly personalization-wise, privacy concerns naturally come up. “We take your privacy seriously and have designed Search with My Location so that it doesn’t associate your location with any personally identifiable information, even if you are logged in,” says Google. “We won’t send your location until you explicitly opt in, and you can always opt-out from the Gears Settings under the Tools menu.”
So far, the feature is only available in the U.S. and the U.K. on Windows Mobile devices, but it will become more widely available in the future. You can see a full list of compatible devices here.