Google's 'Near Me Now' Kicks Local Search Up a Notch

Another day, another new product from Google (GOOG), the sprawling technology giant that has been on a tear lately. Now comes "Near Me Now," a service that makes it fast and easy to learn about your immediate vicinity with a much simpler interface than other local search applications use. It launched last week on the mobile version of Google.com. When an Apple (AAPL) iPhone or Android phone lets Google.com grab its user's exact location via these phones' GPS capabilities, Google adds a "Near Me Now" button to its Web search interface, automatically making it very easy to find local information.