It's just the second letter of the Greek alphabet

I was reading this article:

Google Inc. is combining its popular online maps with its local search features, continuing a quest to increase its already rapidly rising advertising revenue.

The new features are expected to be available Thursday at either http://maps.google.com and http://local.google.com....

"Wait a minute," I thought. "They already did that." I read further:

With the change, Google's local search tools for the United States and Canada are being taken out of the "beta," or testing, phase, said Bret Taylor, the product's manager. The company's local search engines for the United Kingdom, Japan and China remain in beta — a label that technology companies attach to products that don't have all the bugs worked out....

Google is notorious for labeling half of its services as "beta" - last I checked Google Mail was still technically in beta mode. But as of early 2004, Jeremy Zawodny thought that Google's "beta" tag was entirely appropriate:

Let's say you want to use Google's new local search to find Badminton related places in zipcode 94089....

Let's see. Result #1 is good. Badminton Alley sound like just what I might expect to find. Result #2 is "Sociedad Cervantes Espanola." Hmm.

But wait. It gets better!

Result #3 is Kit Kat Club, a strip club. A nudie bar. That sort of thing. Al Bundy would be proud, I'm sure. And result #4 is for a railroad club. Result #5 is for an American Legion Post.

And so on down the list....

So I tried the same search today, in October 2005. Results were much better:

Din Tang Badminton
1375 Geneva Dr, Sunnyvale, CA
(408) 541-1837

Badminton Alley
1237 S Mary Ave, Sunnyvale, CA
(408) 746-0646

Din Tang Badminton
1600 N Shoreline Blvd, Mountain View, CA
(650) 938-6099

United Badminton Club
Fremont, CA
(510) 656-2582

Badminton Alley
San Jose, CA
(408) 281-7818

Badminton Alley
San Jose, CA
(408) 281-7818

Mission College Learning Svc
3000 Mission College Blvd, Santa Clara, CA
(408) 867-2200
Mission College Women's Bad...
... 5367 Mission College 3000 Mission College Blvd. Santa Clara, CA 95054 Mission College Athletics, 1999-2004.
missioncollege.org

Cal Badminton Club
Unverified listing
2412 Ellsworth St, Berkeley, CA
(510) 665-5508

Bank of America
444 S Mathilda Ave, Sunnyvale, CA
(408) 991-8300
Badminton Alley Store - Pro...
... easy to adapt and play with which is good for any beginners and intermediate players that are serious in playing badminton. ...
badmintonalley.com

Sunnyvale Community Players
550 E Remington Dr, Sunnyvale, CA
(408) 733-6611
Play Badminton in San Franc...
... Play Badminton in SF & the Bay Area. Find your places open gym to play badminton in San Francisco and the Bay Area, US. ...
uswebcity.com


What? No nudie bars?

But at least you can search for local information about "ontario emperor" near Washington, DC.