When users launch the Sketch-a-Search app, they immediately see a map centered on their location using GPS. Users can then draw a circle around an area as wide as they want. The application displays push pins for each restaurant within that area and lists them below the map.

Clicking on a restaurant from the list leads to a page with information collected by Yahoo, such as user reviews and photographs. From there, a user can click to call the restaurant or get directions.

Instead of a circle, a user can draw a line along a road to find restaurants just along that street. Shaking the phone erases the search.

The idea behind the application was to offer a better way to do local searches, said David Katz, vice president of Yahoo Mobile's Americas region, during an interview at the CTIA conference in Las Vegas. Typically, local search apps use GPS, zip codes or even a neighborhood name to locate shops in the area. "Most people have a physical area in mind" that might not correspond to any of those, he said.

For now, Sketch-a-Search is available only in the U.S. and displays only restaurants. In the future, however, Yahoo sees potential to extend the service to other kinds of listings, like real estate.