Around August last year Google began testing a new feature in search results. This was to place map drop downs for businesses and places underneath the natural listing:
This map can be expanded to show an overview of the area:
At first this seems to have been a rare and random appearance but now it seems to be almost a common feature in most generic searches. So far it only seems to list American businesses and the selection of who gets a map seems to be completely random, however it seems you need to be listed in Google’s local directory to be eligible for a map.
Google is constantly testing new ways to improve its user’s experience, these maps look to have become a useful and permanent feature of search results and hopefully will soon be rolled out across UK businesses.