Cross-posted from theLat Long Blog.

We're sharing some news today that we hope webmasters will find exciting. As you know, we're constantly working to organize the world's information - be it textual, visual, geographic or any other type of useful data. From a local search perspective, part of this effort means looking for all the great web pages that reference a particular place. The Internet is teeming with useful information about local places and points of interest, and we do our best to deliver relevant search results that help shed light on locations all across the globe.

Today, we're announcing that your use ofRich Snippets can help people find the web pages you've created that may reference a specific place or location. By using structured HTML formats likehCard to markup thebusiness or organization described on your page, you make it easier for search engines like Google to properly classify your site, recognize and understand that its content is about a particular place, and make it discoverable to users onPlace pages.

You can get started by reviewing these tips for usingRich Snippets for Local Search. Whether you're creating a website for your own business, an article on a newly opened restaurant, or a guide to the best places in town, your precise markup helps associate your site with the search results for that particular place. Though this markup does not guarantee that your site will be shown in search results, we're excited to expand support for making the web better organized around real world places.

Posted by Carter Maslan, Director of Product Management, Local Search