Google SA plans to announce, within a month, the establishment of a local point of presence, giving South African users access to local servers.
"We are going to establish a point of presence in this country, which means the international bandwidth problem is solved. There will be a big announcement in a month," said Stafford Masie, GM of Google`s local operation.
Speaking at a broadband conference hosted by MyADSL, in Midrand yesterday, Masie also announced the immediate availability of its AdSense for mobile phones, which allows mobile content providers to earn extra revenue by allowing Google to place targeted advertising.
Masie, who described his role as "driving the agenda for making Google SA more local", said the intention is that South Africans will have access to Google`s full suite of services, tailored for local needs.
"What you see on Google.co.uk and Google.com, you will begin to see in SA," he said. This includes such elements as "universal search", and relevant search results for YouTube and Google Maps.
Local maps and satellite imagery for Google Maps are also being updated, and the maps and imagery for the popular Google Earth application have been bought and are being rolled out, he said.
Until now, South African maps have lacked the detail and level of searchability of those for North America, Europe and elsewhere.
Broadband drive
Masie said Google in SA will put its weight behind the push for broadband access. "We want to see pervasive access, and we want to see costs go down."
He intends to interact with all stakeholders, highlighting real-world examples of the benefits of broadband access.
A full team will be in place at Google SA, in January, and the local arm of the Internet giant will be unveiled officially in February.
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