From...

December 6, 1999
Web posted at: 9:58 a.m. EST (1458 GMT)

by Lisa Moskowitz

(IDG) -- When you search the Web for a store, restaurant, or pet groomer, you usually want to find one close by. Unfortunately, most online directories simply list businesses by city or neighborhood. Not a problem when it's a small neighborhood, but if you're searching in a big city, it's not too helpful.

Two new Web services, MapBlast Business Center and Go2online.com, try to make your searches more succinct and less frustrating.

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MapBlast's Business Center is a resource for small businesses. MapBlast, which is known for its interactive maps and driving directions, has partnered with a bevy of service providers to help you locate trade shows, training sessions, and conferences, find and book lodging, plan meetings, and buy office supplies.

Not surprisingly, MapBlast Business Center quickly pinpoints its partners (FedEx, Airborne Express, Hewlett-Packard, UPS, Hilton, and ComputerCity) via maps and lists them by area code. If you want to look up any other business, you'll have to use MapBlast's regular service, which requires several steps and hones your search only down to the city level.

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One of the most useful tools on the Business Center site is the trade show, conference, and training session locator. Type in a keyword or phrase, like "strategic marketing", and MapBlast lists any matches. You can also search by date, event type or sponsor, industry or topic, and state or city.

Other features on MapBlast's Business Center include shopping through Onlineofficesupplies.com; setting up small business operations like direct mail, public relations, and advertising through DigitalWork.com; buying books through BarnesandNoble.com; and scheduling meetings using TimeDance. While the site does help users locate relevant, if somewhat limited, businesses and events, the main idea is to get you to shop with MapBlast's partners.

Go2 figure

Go2online.com is geared more toward the user who wants to find a variety of local businesses and services, from ad agencies to traffic reports. Of the two, Go2online.com is more comprehensive and easier to use.

Just go to the home page and type in your starting point, including zip code. You then choose a topic from the list or enter the kind of business you're looking for in the "Find me the closest" field. Results, which are culled from the 11 million listings in the U.S. Yellow Pages, are listed first within the zip code, then according to their proximity to your starting point. A link takes you to a map and driving directions.

You an also go directly to a Go2 NetGate, one of the hundreds of URLs that Go2 has assigned to a specific topic. For example, if you're looking for coffee shops, you can type www.go2coffee.com. Using the last address you entered, Go2 automatically displays coffee shops closest to your starting point. Three hundred NetGates are currently available, and more than 2000 have been registered.

If you're interested in quickly locating a business nearby, check out Go2.