Telstra has revealed the addition of almost one million new mobile services in the six months to December 2011, but Sensis revenues plummeted 24 percent in 12 months.
Google has added a new feature to Google Maps that enable anyone with a Google account to change the address of a business, or add a new business or other place of interest.
The aim is to keep information up to date and accurate, but the possibility exists for mischievous entry of erroneous information, and Google has not indicated how it will manage this - presumably repeat offenders would have their Google account suspended.
The new feature is an extension of a facility introduced last November in Australia, New Zealand and the US, called "User Edits" that enabled users to move the markers for homes or business in Google maps: again the aim was to correct erroneous information.
With the new facility, users can edit lots of information about businesses including name, address, phone number, website, or business category, and even mark a business for deletion if it's closed down.
There is considerable incentive for businesses to upload and edit their own details: any business that has done so in Google's Local Business Centre remains in control of its listings.
In addition to being able to edit existing information, users can also add new places to the map: a business, landmark or even point of interest.
According to a posting on Google ANZ's official blog site by Mickey Kataria, product manager "Within moments of adding, others around the world will be able to search for your contributions. A great diving spot? A new cafe down the street? Whether you're an aspiring cartographer, or just happen to notice something missing, you're the experts, and we want you to share your world."
The facility is available by clicking "add a place to the map" link when searching Google Maps.
David Bass
| For the fourth year in a row, IDC has placed content security provider Websense (NASDAQ: WBSN) at the top of the IDC Worldwide Web Security 2011 –…
How to Make Business Discovery Work for Your Business
Business Discovery takes its cues from consumer apps. Like Google, it encourages us- ers to hunt for and explore data without worrying about or even noticing the underly- ing technology. Their entire experience is working within an intuitive interface to get real-time, self-service results with only minimal training. ...more
Try an easy-to-use set of web-enabled
tools for business-class productivity services. Office 365 provides
anywhere-access to email, important documents, contacts, and calendars
on almost any device.