• Fast Company et al., Friday, January 8, 2010 2:17 PM

With or without Yelp, Google seems determined to deliver ever better time-sensitive, location-based consumer guides. In that vein, the search giant just made its "Near Me Now" service live on iPhones and Android smartphones, which, quite simply, helps users retrieve timely information on nearby services and establishments. "Clever stuff," writes Fast Company, "but a lot of location-based App Makers will be furious."

Fast Company also questions Google's motives behind offering a service that is already readily available in any app store. "No, sorry Google: You're telling us this is all to make things easier for users, but what you actually mean is you're making it easier for mobile-net-savvy users to stay on your site while they look for location-based data, so that you can serve up adverts to them."

Either way, writes under the headline, "Google's Near Me Now is Live & Good Enough to Replace Yelp": "It probably doesn't bode well for established local mobile search apps like Yelp or for innovative new ones like NextStop ... Those are a lot of fun, but Google's Near Me Now is good enough, it's fast enough and gosh darn it, I think people are going to like it."

Seconds Marketing Pilgrim: "Watch out other local apps like Yelp ... This one really works."

Without question, Search Engine Land says Google's new service "could take away the mobile market share of Yelp and similar sites/apps like Urbanspoon, MapQuest, and some of the yellow pages apps."

Still, "While Near Me Now looks like it could be a helpful product, it won't be nearly as helpful until it expands its offerings," writes PC World. "Google has not said whether it plans to introduce Near Me Now for Blackberry, Nokia, and Windows Mobile users ... That's a massive chunk of the mobile user base, not to mention the fact that Near Me Now is an ideal tool for traveling executives--many of whom favor Blackberry and Windows Mobile."

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