• Bloomberg et al, Wednesday, October 13, 2010 1:48 PM

How important are location and local services to Google? So important that it's tapped star VP of search products Marissa Mayer to helm the emerging division.

As anyone who follows Google's stock price should know, the world is waiting for the search giant's next act, and location and local are viewed as ripe for a sweeping monetization revolution.

"Google ... is putting more focus on local businesses and location services as it looks for areas of growth outside traditional Internet searches," writes Bloomberg, which first reported the news. "The effort may help the company get more advertising from neighborhood stores and restaurants."

"Google's approach to advertising, to use contextual and targeted advertisements, has been hugely profitable for the company," writes Mashable. "Where advertising can go to the next level is when real-time geolocation targeting can take place ... Location is the holy grail of targeted advertising."

Indeed, for some industry watchers, Mayer's appointment confirms what they have long suspected: That location, location, location is truly the 'next big thing.'

"Location is a key factor in the future of search, social, commerce, and media, among a lot of other things," insists Federated Media founder John Battelle. "Once someone can declare where they are, they add extraordinary context to both search and social, and to their expectations of what a search or a social connection might yield ... Local is the most important signal to emerge in the database of intentions since the link."

How much money is in play on the local front? Citing data from consulting firm BIA/Kelsey, The New York Times reports: "Local businesses are expected to spend $35.2 billion on online advertising in 2014, up from $19.6 billion this year."

What's Google next move in the space?

Well, while it's more likely a case of innocent exploration than M&A research, TechCrunch notes that Mayer has been active on Foursquare of late.

Meanwhile, a source tells The Times that Google hopes to turn local search on its head, by "answering people's questions before they ask them."

Read the whole story at Bloomberg et al »