Today I saw a new feature test on Google, which is something I always like to see happening. On some searches that may have local intent, they are asking you to enter your postcode:



And here it is in context:

A few searches turned up a mention of this appearing in the US, back in May this year, and there was some detail of it in a presentation from SEMpdx, but in the UK it is obviously something that has been popping up this month, as this blog last week shows.

So perhaps it has been a successful test and they are expanding the testing to a wider range of countries? With so many searches having local intent and Google's wish to personalise the search experience, this is an interesting development. I wasn’t logged in to a Google Account when I found this search – if you are then Google may have information about your location already e.g. from Google Maps, particularly if you have set a 'home' location in any way, such as iGoogle.

Considering the regional nature of many searches, awareness of local SEO should be growing faster than it is.