Loren Baker at Search Engine Journal points out that Google Maps has added another way to zoom: double clicking. Of course you can still zoom with the mouse rollerball. Here’s the official statement from the Google Maps API Blog.
Google Earth and Google Maps are now apparently running off the same platform, which should permit more integration of Earth features into Maps over time.
Local marketing is a huge topic and there’s a lot to do here but one fundamental task to start working on first is building your organic search presence