"Location, location, location," is increasingly becoming the mantra around new media services, and 2008 seems poised to be a year of growth for hyperlocal content delivery and other location-based services.
Google recently unveiled a new feature on its Google News page--Google News Local, allowing readers to get news occurring only in their local area. Google is moving into this space at a time when GPS is making people more aware of their surroundings and driving innovations in localized content like mobile ads for local businesses. Google's new news service joins dominant localized news site Topix.net and newcomer EveryBlock in this content area, and many Internet users will benefit from having better access to news in their area.
Google isn't the only major company taking advantage of hyperlocalized content. In stark contrast to Google's online approach, Kodak announced that it sees its strongest growth potential in the newspaper industry, which many have come to perceive as being on its last leg. According to the New York Times:
Kodak is benefiting from the moves that some publishers are making to recoup at least some of those lost advertising dollars. He notes that the Chicago Tribune and some others are trying "microzoning" -- printing several versions of the paper in the same city, each with ads aimed at a specific neighborhood. And, he said, newspapers all over are using more color.
Whether they deliver in digital or print forms, media businesses are recognizing that delivering relevant local content is increasingly important. Google's move into localized news also provides new opportunities for linking news to services like Google Maps, fleshing out the development of a "Geoweb" of locally relevant geotagged data accessed through online maps and virtual globes.
It will be interesting to see if localized content not only brings people more relevant news and ads, but a stronger bond to their local communities and surroundings as well. The Internet and mobile devices--usually accused of distancing us from our surroundings--might actually drive us toward becoming more "local" than we are now.
Image: _sarchi (Flickr)
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