In my post Second Life Killer ? Microsoft Live Local Releases 3D models of US Cities, I wrote that this Microsoft launch was the beginning of a new 3D world. In his post “Google, Microsoft And The ‘3-D Web’‘ in Search Engine Watch, Greg Sterling posits that “symbolically it is (… the beginning of the 3-D Web…)”

I also like the way he thinks this might be the evolution of Search: “The question of what’s next in search is often posed and left unanswered, because it’s very hard to image what might replace the ubiquitous text box. But, in my opinion, a partial answer is starting to emerge. It involves variables of place (local/geo-coding), rich media (images, video, 3-D) and community.”

BTW, Seamus McCauley seems to think that Microsoft Virtual Earth is also a Second Life Killer…

What it means: we’re now seeing the tip of the iceberg in terms of convergence of videogames and the Web. It will an impact on search as well.

Harry – What it also appears to mean: that it isn’t the video gaming industry that will give us the 3D web. I don’t see EA, Activison or Nintendo on the list…