Google has added the ability for users to 'star' favorite local businesses in Maps. Mike Blumenthal has the details on his blog.
A user must be logged in to add a star, and the list of starred items appears under "My Maps" in a section called 'Starred Items' in the user profile.
The star is faint so you might easily overlook it. It's placed to the immediate right of the business name.
The stars have the affect of bookmarking favorites. At present, starred items do not change the orders of the listings, but you can be sure G will use the data to add weight to the listings over time.
Could be a good thing - or a not-so-good-thing if spammers put a lot of effort into starring their bogus local listings.
No matter what, this feature is one to watch closely.
A user must be logged in to add a star, and the list of starred items appears under "My Maps" in a section called 'Starred Items' in the user profile.
The star is faint so you might easily overlook it. It's placed to the immediate right of the business name.
The stars have the affect of bookmarking favorites. At present, starred items do not change the orders of the listings, but you can be sure G will use the data to add weight to the listings over time.
Could be a good thing - or a not-so-good-thing if spammers put a lot of effort into starring their bogus local listings.
No matter what, this feature is one to watch closely.