In the latest news, Loren Baker has a report on “AOL’s New Local Search Beta”.

AOL Beta Central explains their new Search Beta as in three simple ways:

• “Enter a query term, such as PIZZA, a business name or the type of business you're looking for, such as plumbers, in the search field.
• Select a location to search in by entering a city, state and/or a zip code. You have the option of also specifying a street address, in which case we'll search for locations closest to that address.
• Click the Search button.”

When you get the map with its associated list of the businesses matching your search, you can click on a business name to view detailed information about that business. You can also view details about the business, view a photo (if available) and get driving directions by moving your mouse over the marker for the business on the map. For your convenience driving directions can also be found by clicking the driving directions button above the listings beside the map."

Early opinion is negative with one user saying, “I tried a couple searches, and got “no results” almost all the time for searches I know work just fine on Google Maps. It looks like the obsolete technology they are using (MapQuest) makes this product a non-starter.”

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