TomTom is rapidly expanding its unique local search engine, TomTom Places. The service has recently been introduced in Sweden, Austria, Norway, Spain and is now available in Ireland.

TomTom Places is available online, on mobile as a free app for Android or iPhone, and integrated into TomTom navigation devices and in-dash navigation systems. Beyond the search, it lets users call or directly plan a route to the place they have found, taking into account the latest real time traffic reports from TomTom HD Traffic.

With more than 50% of all local searches are now carried out on a mobile TomTom Places is quick and easy to use on TomTom products. People ask for directions to a nearby place rather than the address and that's exactly what TomTom Places provides them. The system provides a navigation-based search facility, helping drivers to find nearby shops and restaurants and choose the best places to go.

"Searching with TomTom Places whilst on the move is a big time saver," says Gerard Hinds, Director Mobile at TomTom. "For example, if you searched for 'bread' via a normal search engine, you'd be given recipes. However, search with TomTom Places, and you'll find a variety of places in the local area where you can actually buy bread. So there's no need to sift through all that irrelevant information when you're trying to find a place to go."