Geo Search Tied to Server Location?

What, if anything, does PC World blurb mean for the future?

[jimbeetle]

Finally got around to thumbing through the February PC World. It's Best of the Web blurb about Google included this (emphasis added):

"Expect better blog searching soon, thanks to the company's purchase of Web-log phenom Blogger and to geographic searches that tie the physical location of a Web server to the results."

Article here: [pcworld.com...]

It reads as only applying to blog searches but seems like it might have future possibilities for a new flavor of Google geo-search.

Haven't found any discussion on this anywhere. Any blue sky ideas what this might portend for the future?

[ThomasB]

I've also heard a few rumors abou that. But Michael Schmitt, software engineer at Google and Speaker at SES in Munich, agreed that it wouldn't really make sense. Lots of european companies have their servers in the US due to lower costs for webspace and/or bandwith.

[ALbino]

I work for a webhosting company and I can tell you that plan of attack would make no sense whatsoever. We have thousands of European customers who sell small business European products from our US servers to Europeans only. Not to mention hundreds of other countries like Australia or Japan. On the flip side, prior to working for my current company, I used to personally host a US based small business website on a European webhost. There's no way that server location is a practical way to raise or lower SERP position.

[ThomasB]

The only geo-targetting I could imagine is content-based and I think it will still take a long time till it will be live.

Also whois-data is not a good way, because you can live in Germany and have the best site about italian cars on the entire web.

Most people are talking about it, but I think that there will be a lot of time passing by till we see it in the SERPs of the major players.

[mbauser2]

Reading the FAQ never hurts.

[labs.google.com...]

[Troppo]

>>Reading the FAQ never hurts.> Right on! but I still forget; not everytime but near enough. Thanks for directing attention to something that should be but is all too often, not obvious.