"There's been such great demand for Local search results that we've added a Local link on the Google homepage so you can find nearby businesses around the U.S. and Canada even faster than before. Try it out and tell us how it's working for you. We suggest keeping an eye on Local, too - you'll soon see even more features. Whether you're at home or traveling, you're now one click closer to whetting your appetite," says Google's blog.
Danny Sullivan has written about it over at Search Engine Watch, saying:
Despite the move, the service remains in beta. First launched as a Google Labs project in September 2003, then released as a formal beta in March 2004, Google Local has been in development for between a year and two and a half years, depending on what start date you go with.
Either way is a long time and adds further fuel to the fire of Google not knowing how to get products out of beta. More telling is the fact that Google previously had suggested that Google Local would only make it to the home page when the beta process was over.
