• Screenwerk, Thursday, September 11, 2008 3:30 PM

AOL's MapQuest has launched a local search "dashboard" of sorts, which Greg Sterling thinks can be a game-changer--as it could eventually become a one-stop shop of links, videos and ads for local businesses.

Users can plug various widgets onto their own personal MapQuest start page, including local news, weather and videos. The content comes from both AOL and third-party services like Topix, and the Web giant is encouraging anyone who's interested to create a module or widget. "This quickly becomes a distribution platform or way to drive traffic to local publisher sites," Sterling says. "There's no reason why, for example, Yelp, Loladex, Krillion, Praized, Outside.in, Loopt or anyone in local couldn't or wouldn't tap into MapQuest's traffic. In a way then, this is like [a] Facebook platform for local (except there's no development required here)."

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