Playing with different add-ons for firefox I came across a local search add-on called LookLOCAL. Once installed your firefox browser grows yet another toolbar. This one allows you to either search for a business / business category in a particular location, or to get directions from one point to another. The results for the search show up in a new tab, and you see that they use Microsoft’s Live search and maps. However, looking at the top of the screen there are radio buttons to switch to Google Maps and Yahoo local. Flicking those radio buttons changes the map to the one selected, but the results stay the same (this is a great way to compare the mapping services provided by the big 3). Returning to the search area and clicking on the search button performs the search on whichever of the 3 radio buttons is selected, which makes this a fantastic tool for comparing local results between the big 3.

Other interesting features? Well, besides the A to B driving directions (which again use whichever of the engines that’s selected), there’s a traffic conditions tab that shows you alerts and cameras, and then the misfit - there’s an explore vacation spots tab, which lists the top 25 adventure vacation spots in the world, or the top 10 beaches in the world, etc. Nice to know, but it’s hardly local, if I’m looking at traffic conditions in DC, then decide I want to hit the beach, is Ipanema really the best local option for me? Not really, but it does sound good.