Google’s never ending quest to sort and categorize everything on the planet continues as the search engine will now inform you of upcoming concerts in the area. The venerable search engine already brings you movie showings, tell you the weather, perform calculations, and even give you currency exchange rates. Pretty soon it’s going to be faster to just say what Google’s can’t do.
Finding concerts on Google is excrutiatingly easy. Simply type the name of a band into Google, and nearby concert dates will appear below the official website of the band. According to Google’s blog post, the results come from various sources including the official website of the band. It’s also pretty smart about the search results, returning only upcoming shows that are near to your current location. So if you don’t see any results for your favorite band, it probably just means they’re not coming close anytime soon. The results will also include links to where you can buy tickets, if online purchase options are available.
This could be a major boon for performers, especially smaller acts who might have difficulty advertising concerts. For bands who want their shows included in the search results, Google has released tools musicians can use to point Google towards their tour information. Adding concert results might also be a step by Google to try and attract entertainers to their social platforms, perhaps taking aim at MySpace as the place for bands to advertise themselves.
When trying out the new results by googling my favorite bands, I got the feeling that the system might be more clever than it seems. I noticed that while most of concert results were based around my current east coast home, a number of Detroit shows were also appearing. Given the time I have spent in that area, that information is actually pretty useful. My guess is that Google is scraping the “Places I’ve Lived” portion of my Google profile, or has noticed that I have logged in a lot from IP addresses in that area. While some might find that creepy, I just think it’s worthwhile.
With the concert results in search only being a few days old, they are sure to improve as more bands make their tour dates available. Thanks for helping me worsen my tinnitus, Google!
(Google Inside Search Blog via Engadget)
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