A nearby engine enables a keyword search of the Web from a particular location in the real world.

The results are displayed on a local map, and are ranked by a mixture of relevancy and physical proximity.

This is done in several ways. You can:

1. Include your city or town name in the keywords of your search

        eg. "soccer los angeles"
             "San Diego car mechanic"

2. Include your zipcode in the keywords of your search

        eg. "90210 soccer"

3. Specify your postal address and zipcode in the My Address page.


4. Move the centre of the map interactively from any Results page. This is done by clicking within the map, or panning and zooming using the surrounding controls.

If you are unsure whether Mobilemaps has understood your town's name try this special syntax:
eg. "[los angel] soccer"

The text between the square brackets '[' and ']' tells Mobilemaps that this is a location.  You can specify the first few letters of the name here if you wish, and Mobilemaps will return with a list of places that begin with these letters.

Each number corresponds with a search result number beneath the map display.   The results are ranked by how useful they will be to an individual travelling to them in person  ie. a mixture of relevancy and physical proximity.

Every zoom or pan does a fresh search, and will result in a new ranking of Web pages. For example, a "Zoom in" on a Web page numbered "5" will bring up a new search that might only have that Web page in the search area. That Web page will almost certainly be ranked first in the new search, and will consequently become Web page number "1".

The Mobilemaps nearby engine sends a 'spider' to follow links across the Web, and read each Web page.  The information it finds on the Web page is then checked for location information using two methods:

1. Reading the first postal address written on a page, or on the site's contact page.  This address is then converted to a map location.


2. Reading latitude/longitude tags hidden in the HTML code describing the page.

Please note that the locations of Web pages are intended as a guide only, and a dedicated street map is recommended if you plan on visiting.  Here is an approximate result accuracy guide:

50% are accurate to the street number.  The location of the page on the street is determined from an average house width along the street.

37% are accurate to the nearest street.  The location of the page is plotted at the start of the street.

13% are accurate to the nearest zipcode.  The location of the page is plotted in the centre of the geographic zipcode coverage.

If you are the owner of the Web page, see the next question.  We cannot change the location of Web pages unless the owner agrees.

Otherwise, yes, we appreciate any notifications and will do our best to integrate these in future.

Currently the best way of doing this is to put your physical address in HTML text on your home page, or contacts page in a format like: 11734 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90025. The first address found on a page will be treated as the address of that page, so avoid having another address first on your contacts page.

This is not possible at the moment, but we will be changing this shortly. In the meantime you could investigate our advertising network.

Yes.  Create a single page per physical site, that details each location. There is a maximum of one location per page, but you may have multiple pages.  

You should note that for the Mobilemaps 'spider' to find each page, there must be a visible link from at least one other page. This applies in particular to dynamically generated pages, which should have a static page that links to them.  

The ranking calculation is based on physical proximity and keyword relevance.  The nearer you are to your prospective client, the more likely they will find you.  Make sure your title and subject matter match what your clients are searching for.

Update the postal address on your Web page.  The Mobilemaps 'spider' will automatically register the new address on it's next pass.