Photo by melanie.phung

Apparently, the juggernaut from Mountain View is getting in on the local lifestyle blogging game. Google Places, the search giant’s product that allows users to leave notes about various businesses, tourist destinations and other locations on Google Maps, is branching out into original editorial content.

In an introductory post on Google Places’ blog, Corrie Davidson, the “community manager” for D.C., wants to know about “the local places, the neighborhood haunts, the foodie havens, the dive bars, and the spots that make our city great to live, work and thrive in.”

Uh, oh. She’s not going to mention cupcakes, is she?

“(And not just the touristy spots, like TLC’s DC Cupcakes star Georgetown Cupcake—though their Girl Scout inspired Thin Mint cupcake will have you in a sash and earning merit badges!)”

Actually, it gets better. Off the frenzied dessert path, Davidson is also a fan of record stores like Som, Smash and Red Onion; seems to know her suburban art galleries; and understands that at Nationals Park, the food trumps the baseball.

So, welcome to the fray, Google. One piece of advice: If you’re attempting to distill the lifestyle of the nation’s capital into a snappy blog, please, please lay off the “Shit [Group of People] Says” videos. They’ve been done to death for a while, and LivingSocial just kicked the corpse around last week.