Google has added a click-to-call function for its mapping and local search utility, Google Maps, allowing users to enter their phone numbers into the engine and have their phone connected to the
business. Google pays for the local and long distance fees, but will not pay for mobile airtime. The service is not an advertising product, and is provided for free to every business with a phone
listing on Google Maps. Last year, the search giant began
testing pay-per-call ads on
Google Maps, but no official ad product has been announced.
--Shankar Gupta
