Google Adds Weather Forecast
Google noted on their blog yesterday that they have added a shortcut which allows users to search for weather forecasts in various areas by typing in “weather” and then their zip code. This is a simple, yet useful tool on Google as the search company makes more and more strides of showcasing their local search capabilities. Google Weather results are also available on the cell phone via Google Mobile.
When doing a weather search for Queenstown, MD, I was surpised to see that Google not only lists their four day forecast, but also the forecasts of other weather sites including Accuweather.com and WUnderground.com. One driving theme to local search at the Search Engine Strategies conference was the importance of listing your business information with business database companies, but also authority sites.
Given the Google results here, we can see which weather sites Google considers authorities. Google Weather seems useful, especially for those “Googlers” who use nothing else than the world’s most popular search engine. What I’d like to see in the future is some kind of radar mapping and traffic reporting placed on the same page.
