Attention Geeks: Help!
Will someone please explain to me why Google Local sucks?
Before it went live a few months ago, Local was one of my most trusted and favorite of the Google buffet. Compared to sites like switchboard.com or MapQuest, Google Local (when it was still in beta) offered simplicity, speed, accuracy, and elegance.
Nix all that. Since going live, the address local.google.com takes a really amateurish amount of time to load. Even after it has apparently loaded, a cooling down period is needed until the user can type a query in the search field.
After sending the information, go make a sandwich or take a nap. Or better yet, just go ahead and force quit your browser, cuz you’re not getting an answer anytime this decade.
My hunch is that it has to do with Google’s incorporation of Google Maps (another superior service, on its own) into the Local platform. But is this some kind of an oil and water not mixing problem? I mean, really, double-yoo-tee-eff? Two perfectly good products that make strange bedfellows? It happens…
Is it also any coincidence that Google stock is pushing $400 per share? Are they somehow on gluttony auto-pilot? Please, someone riddle me these questions…
* For interested geeks, I’m on an iBook G4 1.42 GHz PowerPC with 1 GB DDR SDRAM. I’m running OS X 10.4.3, and use Safari 2.0.1 (412.5). Like I said, I’ve only encountered this clunkiness since Local went live a couple of months ago.
And by way of disclaimer, I’m fully ready to admit that I’m doing something wrong here. I just need someone to point out what that something is.
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November 3rd, 2005 at 12:08 pm
I have been a huge fan of Google Maps, despite its shortcomings. But I am also annoyed by it in many ways, most particularly in the way that insists on “zooming out” when I perform a local search on “the map area shown.” Grr! I don’t want to know how much pizza there is in the entire Boston metro area!
Thankfully, Google finally has some good competition with the release of Yahoo’s beta maps upgrade:
http://maps.yahoo.com/beta/
Fast, beautiful, and so far fairly bug free.
November 3rd, 2005 at 12:12 pm
I call for geeks, and there you are…appreciated, of course.
I actually ran into this problem with Google yesterday: trying to find the phone number for a pet supply store up the street. I have no idea what the address is, but I know what block of Valencia it’s on. I tried “pet store,” “pet supply,” “dog food,” “pet supplies,” and nothing. One of those, can’t remember which, brought up another pet store in the Mission, but not the one I wanted.
Argh!!!! Is Google smoking their billions, or what?
November 3rd, 2005 at 8:12 pm
I’ll take your word for it. I haven’t noticed any speed difference. Just a lot more fancy lines, shapes, and lots of different colors.
A Google search for [ google local slow ] provided this helpful tidbit in the #1 slot:
http://www.mymac.ws/mac-google-local-so-slow-with-safari-19146.html
In short, I suggest using the latest release (today’s) of Firefox 1.5b - the latest update even optimizes performance for OSX. Besides, web developers are writing their web pages for it now since it hit over 10% of the global web user market (according to web analytics firm OneStat.com). That’s a lot further than Safari will get you on the ole’ information superhighway, for better or worse.
Can’t help you finding the pet store - except maybe by suggesting that the store may not have a web presence, which would make it harder for Google to find.
*This comment and its author is sponsored by Google.
Now, start posting about politics again. I need my fix. Seems like there’s been a tad of a backlash lately against Newsom. Tony Hall and friends may have a hand in that…