Google added a new tool where you can now do a search by location to its list of search options. The option is called “nearby”.
“Location has become an important part of the way we search. If you’re a foodie looking for restaurant details, food blogs or the closest farmer’s market, location can be vital to helping you find the right information,” says Google Product Manager Jackie Bavaro.
“One of the really helpful things about this tool is that it works geographically — not just with keywords — so you don’t have to worry about adding ‘Minneapolis’ to your query and missing webpages that only say ‘St. Paul” or “Twin Cities,'” Bavaro adds.
Google’s been using users’ locations to deliver search results for a while now, but this is the first time the search engine giant is allowing users to dictate when they want to be used to retrieve results for specific queries. With local searches, Google’s good at bringing nearby results anyways, but now users can add more control, giving them another way to refine their results to match their preferences.
Users can view results by their default location or set a custom location.