Like last year, Mike Blumenthal asked me for my thoughts on what were the most important events in “local” in 2010. I obliged and Mike put together a blog post with my answers. In a nutshell, they are:
- The launch of Twitter Places
- Foursquare’s growth
- Facebook launches Places
- The launch of the iPad
- The rise of Groupon and the explosion of the daily offers space
- Groupon rejects Google’s purchase offer
Head up to Mike’s blog to read the rest of my post.
Seb Provencher's Blog 
Nice lookback on noteables for local in 2010.
In December, I heard Bruce Clay say something to the effect on a recent SEM Synergy Podcast that Google local/global search is something like 20/80 but that in the near future, he sees that flipping to 80/20 for local/global. You are already starting to see it as Google broadens the terms it interprets with local search intent, regardless of whether a location is used in some cases in the query or not. Just search for “optometrist” and you will see what I mean. The Google 7 pack is the place to be in 2011 and beyond IMHO.
Local search, for services businesses with in-person delivery, is the foundation of a solid search strategy since their market is limited and often competition for the top 7 spots if fierce!
Thanks,
Rick Noel