If using an iPhone restaurant search app or typing in search terms in a mapping program to find a local spot to graze are too difficult, Yahoo!'s new Sketch-a-Search mapping app lets you simply draw a circle around a given area to locate local eateries. Yahoo's Sketch-a-Search sits on top of Google maps, but uses Yahoo's search results and reviews.
While you can get directions to your selection, the rest of the features are pretty limited. You can't set places as favorites and you there are no written reviews, just the star ratings. And there is no way to save searches, so if you leave the app to check out a place online, you need to search all over again when you go back in to Sketch-a-Search.
Over time, Yahoo! hopes to expand its circle search to include other categories of local services.
