Local Search Outpaces Online Search
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A tremendous surge in the annual growth of local search far outpaced growth of overall Web search, according to a study conducted by comScore, Inc., a leading Web behavior research firm, and released today by the Yellow Pages Association.
Local Search Growing
The study found that local search — the practice of using online search tools to find local businesses, products, or services — grew 58 percent in 2008, reaching an annual total of 15.7 billion searches. By comparison, overall U.S. Web core searches grew at a much smaller rate of 21 percent year-over-year, nearing 137 billion searches by the end of 2008. Local searches stand at 12 percent of core searches on the top 5 portals.
“Even if the searcher doesn’t know the company or brand they will ultimately give their business to, the decision to actually make a purchase has often already been made,” Norton said. “That is a strong argument for local merchants to develop and maintain an online profile, if they haven’t already done so.”
– 75 percent of the top 100 keywords searched on Internet Yellow Pages
sites were non-branded, indicating that a majority of consumers have not
decided on a specific company or product brand when they begin their
search.
– Nearly half (45 percent) of Internet Yellow Pages and local online
directory searchers made an online purchase in the fourth quarter of 2008.
The comScore study measured real-life Internet browsing, buying and transactional activity of approximately one million U.S. Internet users who provided permission to be monitored from December 2007 to December 2008.
comScore Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR) is a global leader in measuring the digital world and preferred source of digital .marketing intelligence. comScore derives its information and analysis from a representative panel of more than two million Internet users worldwide.
Flattered and Honored at Semmy Best 2009 Local Search Article Nomination
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In their own words: “The SEMMYS are an annual awards event honoring the great content produced across the search and online marketing industry. Search Engine Marketing (SEM) has grown to include a variety of disciplines, including blogging, social media, reputation management, and much more. The SEMMYS attempt to include all these elements into one awards event. I hope the SEMMYS serve as a complement to the excellent existing awards which honor blogs and bloggers.”
My article published on Search Engine Journal was nominated as one of the five best 2009 articles on Local Search: How to Optimize Local Business Profiles for Free Local Directories
Thanks. The other four nominees have written excellent articles and there should be five awards. All the articles plus the right to vote can be found at Semmy nominated Best Local Search articles for 2009