Mike Blumenthal, an avid Google Local Business Center (LBC) watcher, notes that Google is now taking a first baby step in dealing with SMBs. He received 2 email newsletters from the LBC as announced recently.
As Miriam Ellis noted, Google has been behind its Great Wall for the past months creating massive frustration among LBC users. Even now, the newsletters are auto generated and available only to users in the US.
Getting local results correct in the LBC will require human intervention rather than blind application of computer algorithms. Google does not seem ready for that as yet.