Google announced today that its "News Near You" product, tied into Google News, will be available from Android and iPhones browsers. The beauty of this for Google is that it costs them essentially nothing to roll out this service whereas Patch and other local initiatives like Washington, D.C.-centric TBD.com spent considerable sums to break into the hyperlocal market. Can Google come in and wipe them aside in one fell swoop?
As yet, no one large company has been able to gain a significant foothold in the market. The Washington Post tried with a failed initiative in Loudoun County, Va., the New York Times has a couple ongoing efforts with "The Local" and there are small startups across the country looking to cash in.
It comes down to a matter of consumer habit and preference. News sites that tend to do well in local markets are ones that are ingrained in the community and become as much a forum for what is happening locally as a news source. Listserv lists still fulfill this purpose as do local blogs. At the same time, Google has a great approach to hyperlocal - Google News is a widely used product, the appetite for local news via smartphone is growing and Google simply flicks a switch or two on its algorithm and entire segments of the population are served. Mobile "News Near You" may seem like a small update to an existing product, but its consequences could have a more profound impact than many people think.
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