Local Corp has just announced that it will be powering this feature for the Microsoft search engine.
The operator of the Local.com search site, Local Corp, has just announced that it will be responsible for providing the geolocation based listings for products and services on the Bing search engine.
The shares of the company skyrocketed on the Nasdaq by 41 percent following the original announcement.
According to the company, the geolocation product listings search feature will be powered by the Krillion shopping data platform which is owned and operated by Local. That platform provides consumers with information regarding local shopping opportunities such as consumer products from retailers. This includes current discounts, comparison pricing, the availability in store, and images.
Geolocation technology is used to make certain that the shopping data is relevant to the consumer’s current location.
This is helpful to mobile consumers who are looking for products and services that they can purchase at a nearby brick and mortar store location. It also helps to make sure that they will find the best deal in doing so, providing them with options that are available from all of the various shops that carry the desired item within their area.
This geolocation feature will give Bing the opportunity to provide local search results for consumers that can be refined down to retail stores, brands, and the actual availability of the specific item within a designated store location.
Krillion was originally acquired by Local just over two years ago. The acquisition was clearly a clever one, and it is certain to pay for itself many times over after having been integral to the geolocation results deal between Microsoft’s Bing and Local. Moreover, Microsoft isn’t the only large search engine company that has been involved in a partnership with Local. Google, Inc. is currently Local’s largest partner and was responsible for generating 44 percent of its revenue last year. Twenty one percent of its revenue, last year, came from Yahoo! Inc., another partner. At the moment, the market share in the United States for Google is 67 percent, with another 11 percent belonging to Yahoo! Bing is also on the rise, having risen to its current place at 18 percent over 16 percent at this time last year.
Bing working on developing new augmented reality platforms
Microsoft’s search division Bing has been hard at work developing an augmented reality platform and applications that could gain traction with consumers. Microsoft has been showing a great deal of support in augmented reality recently. The company has plans to incorporate the technology into its next generation gaming platform, tentatively dubbed the Xbox 720. Bing is another sector in which Microsoft is looking to flex its developing augmented reality muscles.
AR team aims to develop new technologies
Bing has established an augmented reality team, which has been tasked with building a platform that acts as a place for users to find information in a natural way. The augmented reality team is working on camera tracking, visual and audio recognition, optical character tracking, translation, and vision-based technologies. These technologies will be used in mobile applications as well as the basic structure of the Bing search engine and its various services, such as Bing Maps.
Google may finally see some competition in the search space
Though Google continues to dominate the online search engine space, Bing is becoming a more popular platform. If augmented reality can be successful introduced, Google may have its first real competitor in the search sector. Bing is basing its augmented reality efforts around “naturalism,” that is, Bing aims to present its augmented reality services in a way that seem wholly natural to consumers. The user interface of the applications and platforms Bing is working on will be intuitive to consumers, no matter what their experience with augmented reality may be.
Companies have yet to show they can deliver with augmented reality
Bing’s augmented reality endeavors may find significant success if its applications and new augmented reality platform can appeal to consumers. Many consumers have already shown interest in the technology because of its dynamic nature, but there are few augmented reality platforms available from major companies like Microsoft and Google. Whether these companies can successfully develop platforms that can attract and keep consumers engaged has yet to be seen.
