I may have missed it in the recent run through of my RSS for this week, but it seems no one is talking about the new Google Local results for nearly any search with a city included. When doing a search for a city plus keyword, you will see above the natural rankings a very large map followed by 3 very large links to the top Google Local results. It is so big that even on my large flat screens I rarely see more than two organic listings above the fold (or without scrolling down). I have always been a big proponent of geo-targeted organic optimization as well as local engine optimization, as it brings unbelievable conversion rates from a relatively low amount of traffic, but now with this change the importance of being listed in the local engines is more important than ever for any company providing services or products tied to a geographic location.

Google's Results for "Minneapolis Pizza"

Personally, and as a company, we have been reaping the rewards of geo search results as it is often very easy to rank for and brings high quality, targeted visitors. However, my number 3 organic ranking may not be bringing as much business as before. Recently MSN did a new eye tracking test that argued that the top 5 is the new top 10 - in other words, if you are not in the top 5, you are not getting nearly the amount of traffic as those coveted 5 spots. I would argue that for local and geo-targeted organic results, the top 2 is the the new top ten.

Google is obviously pushing the use of Google Local, as I found they often push the sponsored listings to the right for these searches. This could reduce their clickthroughs, which are tied to direct revenue for Google. They must know what I have been assuming for the last two years, which is that local and geo search are going to play a big part in the future of search. With all the new smart phones and cell phones that have search integrated into them, more and more people will be using these features to find local companies and information. Laptops have replaced desktops, and I believe soon PDA phones will replace laptops as far as usage. I already use Google search on my Treo every day for finding local companies or services, as well as getting reviews on products as I am in the store ready to buy. Google wouldn't make such a drastic change to their results page if it wasn't thought out and expected to bring a better user experience and bottom line.

There is still huge opportunity for companies to list their businesses and reap some quick rewards. In my test searches I made this week, I found several mortgage words tied to cities that had the second and third result scraped from another Yellow Page engine. If you're a mortgage company in that city, you better believe Google will replace one of those borrowed listings for your company. I saw another mortgage keyword owned by the same company with two urls and two different addresses in the same city. You know they are loving life right now, but you could probably take one of their rankings. You have to sign up under the city where your address is; they send you a physical card with a code on it to confirm. *Hint if you are in a small town that gets no searches but near a big town that gets all the action, go get a P.O. box in that city. This method makes sense for service companies, though--not retailers.

Get it while the gettin's good; I would recommend getting in all of the big three's local indexes:

• http://local.google.com 
• Yahoo Local Sign Up 
• Live Local (login to find sign up page)
• Another great site is True Local 

Just as an old domain will serve you well in today's organic search world, an old listing in Google Local may treat you right in a year or two as more and more people use it.