When will Google Expose Local Business Data to Developers?

It seems like a lot of companies are working on location based applications in an effort to serve the growing number of people accessing the Internet from a mobile device.  One of the more common application types is to detect the location of the user, and display local businesses near them - apps like Yelp, GoodRec, UrbanSpoon, and as of today, Google all do a pretty good job of this.  Other apps like Foursquare and Brightkite attempt to do slightly different things based on local business data, and there are countless other web applications built on top of local business data.

The common denominator needed to build these sorts of applications is access to up to date and accurate local business information - business name, street address, phone number, city and state, zip code.

As of today, there are two ways to get this sort of data in large quantities; 1) scrape it from other services; 2) license it from companies like Acxiom and InfoUSA.

Local business data is notoriously difficult to keep up to date.  I've heard estimates that up to 40% of all local business data goes stale per quarter.  With a centralized approach, such as the call centers operated by Acxiom and InfoUSA, it is a costly (and lucrative) proposition to keep this data fresh.

To me, the sale of local business data seems like an industry in grave danger of getting wiped out.

Yesterday, Google announced a new local business dashboard, designed to incentivize local businesses to claim their listing on Google.  Claiming a business means being responsible for keeping its data updated, thus eliminating the need for centralized data providers.

Would it shock anyone if Google were to expose this local business information in exchange for attribution, much like they did with the Google Maps API?  Not only would a local business data API represent another snippet of code to suck analytics data back from countless websites, but Google's mobile platform, Android, would stand to benefit from increased numbers of location based applications.

This wouldn't be the first time that Google wiped out an industry overnight - just ask those that competed with Urchin, now Google Analytics.

Comments

[Ralph Haygood]

I wish they would. Dealing with Acxiom, InfoUSA, and their ilk is something of a pain. If Google does it, I expect it will be not only cheaper but easier to use.

[pillpoppinpuppy]

Acxiom has data on 500 million individuals and 1,500 data items on each individual. I don't think Google can wipe that competitive edge out overnight. In fact, I don't think Google can wipe that out for a long, long time.

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Yes, too stupendous a task

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google does it now.

[Ludovic]

You say that Google does it now, would it be possible to have more information about that ? Where I could get details ? Thanks !

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