Google’s search engine can deliver Web pages from every corner of the world, but the Internet company is increasingly interested in getting you information about the pizza parlor around the corner.
Google introduced a new feature on Wednesday called “Places” that allows users to narrow their search results to include only information about real-world establishments that are nearby.
A search for “bocce,” the Italian outdoor bowling game, for example, can be refined so that results show actual bocce courts in San Francisco (or wherever Google determines the user is located) instead of Web pages about the sport of bocce.
Google has also fleshed out the lists of local businesses, like restaurants, that it already serves up alongside an online map, so that the results now include more details about the various establishments, like address and links to online reviews.
According to Google, more than 20 percent of searches on its site are related to location. And Google has increasingly been taking steps to incorporate more local businesses into its massive index of online information.
