ExperienceCurve by Karl Long

local.google.com is now out of beta, and blends local search, google maps and advertising. So “local” gets “maps”, and “maps” gets advertising. This is a hugely important step as the competition heats up to grab the local advertising market. More and more people are turning to search engines as opposed to the yellow pages.

Google Melds Local Search and Maps - MarketingVOX