Very interesting set of investments and advancements in the local search space by A9.

I think it's a great way for Amazon to learn more about what kind of local merchants people are shopping for (>> insight into consumer behavior), with the additional benefits to Amazon of being able to monetize the search traffic through advertising and offer testing.

This move continues to blur the lines between offline and online shopping. It adds value to local merchants by making the local search experience more rich and compelling, and...

While the visuals are capturing the press buzz, the most significant part of the search experience is the "Click to Call Business" in the upper right corner.

Actually, it enables the business to call you back, but that will evolve into a direct VoIP connection to the store or a customer service agent. It will enable you to complete a transaction and then pick up the goods or have them delivered even from merchants that don't know the world-wide-web from a cobweb. It's taking virtualization of the real world to the next step, and positioning Amazon to capture a few more percentage points of the consumer share of wallet along the way.

Of course, that's the ambition behind *every* local search service, be it Google, Yahoo, or MSN.

But the visual representation by A9 is very, very clever. I'm not sure it's too hard to replicate, but it is very clever.

It also introduces the possibility of local vendors paying for leads on a "pay per call" commission structure. This could tap into a larger pool of merchant advertising dollars.

All in all, I love the strategy and execution. The major challenge for them is to continue to build awareness and use.