Google knows where you are, even without GPS in your phone.

Thanks to Advertising Lab for this one.


On the heels of Samsung's RFID reader news, here's an alternate approach to getting location-specific content into the hands of a mobile-phone user.

My Location is a new beta technology from Google that uses cell tower identification to provide you with approximate location information, so it will work on phones without GPS. Simply fire up Google Maps for mobile, press [0], and the map will indicate your approximate location by centering on a blue circle like this:



If you do have a GPS-enabled device, My Location can actually complement it. My Location kicks in faster than GPS in most cases, so you can access your location even faster on the map. It also works reliably indoors (unlike GPS) and doesn't drain your phone battery at the rate that GPS does.

While the Google piece doesn't mention ad serving, obviously Google can target a user more effectively if they know where she is right now. This looks like it'll see the light of day a lot sooner than Samsung's approach - it's in beta now.

Google Mobile blog

AdverLab article