I am of the opinion that Google Maps in all of its forms is the future look and feel of search for Google, particularly in the mobile world. There has been a number of subtle and not so subtle changes that have increased Maps integration into general search as well over the past month:

• The introduction of the Local 10-Pack into the main search results
• integration of geotargeted data into Google Maps
• increased visibility of that data with a “Show Search Options” Maps interface upgrade
• the recent upgrade to Google Experimental that added map view.

There has been a subtle but important change to the Google Experimental view within the past few days that further integrates a maps view into the main search results in a way that could conceivably be rolled out to the wider Google audience:

I personally prefer the Google Experimental  view as I use the Map view regularly and the timeline view enough that it is worthwhile to have it available. This recent interface change is more consistent with Google’s design ethos and thus seems destined to become more widely available.