Cloud Computing: Google Places Vies for Local Search Share vs. Yelp, Twitter, Foursquare

Google April 20 launched Google Places, formerly known as Google Local Business Center, to better reflect its integration with Google Place Pages, Web Pages that users can stumble across on Google Maps when looking for local businesses. While services such as Foursquare, Gowalla and Twitter approach location from a social angle with check-ins and a what's-happening-where mentality, Google's local search is tethered to its search platform. But Google is doing more to appeal to local businesses than any other. See the screenshots of Places features here.