Techabia

Google has unveiled a new web product based on it’s local business search technology. When a business (e.g. a restaurant) signs up to Google’s Local Business Center, it then appears in locally related search results. After visiting the restaurant, users are able to comment on the restaurant’s listing, giving a rating out of five. Google will then identify the popular local businesses and add them as a Favourite Place, which allows the business to leave a decal (sticker) on it’s door for daily pedestrians to be able to search the business upon discovery. The sticker will contain a QR Code (which is already heavily used in Japan), a form of barcode that requires a picture to be taken from a mobile device, which then directs the user to the local business’s page, where ratings and comments will appear. A great way to enhance the availability of information on the go.