Google Local Does GPS?

A great find by Digital Lifestyles GPS discovered in Google Local for mobile

This is VERY disruptive for a few players in the GPS and mobile info space. I am also thinking how this will be used for mobile marketing.

Despite their emphatic denial, Google appear to be planning to bring GPS to the recently announced Google Local For Mobile.



Currently the users of the service have to key in or select the desired starting and destination points, and press a key to mimic their progress in the real world. Using GPS eradicates the need to tell the system where you are, or update the system to your progress.

Is this factored into a mobile search query?

With GPS Google's service becomes a huge threat to many of the companies that already sell handheld navigation system like TomTom and Navicore. The disadvantage of Google's approach is that the phone must be connected to the network, racking up data charges for the mobile owner. This disadvantage vanishes when the phone user had an all inclusive data rate.

In my opinion, location (using GPS) will play a bigger role for mobile services than the best selected kewyords.

Keep an eye on this development, I think this turns the heat up on the SMS players and will be quite attractive to mobile marketing companies (once they find a way to get permission).

Could Google start using this GPS function for SMS queries?

Comments, thoughts?