Local search is the use of Internet search engines that allow users to submit geographically constrained searches.

Local search is the use of Internet search engines that allow users to submit geographically constrained searches. Examples of local searches include "North London solicitor", "Manchester restaurants", and "San Francisco Hertz". Search that references a product or service that is typically consumed locally, such as "restaurant" or "nail salon", is an implicit local search.

Local search sites are primarily supported by advertising from businesses that wish to be prominently featured when users search for specific products and services in their area. Local search advertising can be highly effective because it allows ads to be targeted very precisely to the search terms and location provided by the user.

• Local search is the natural evolution of traditional advertising, typically distributed by newspaper publishers and TV and radio broadcasters, to the Web.
• Historically, consumers relied on local newspapers and local TV and radio stations to find local product and services.
• With the advent of the Web, consumers are increasingly using search engines to find these local products and services online.
• In recent years, the number of local searches online has grown rapidly while off-line information searches, such as print Yellow Page lookups, have declined.
• As a natural consequence of this shift in consumer behaviour, local product and service providers are slowly shifting their advertising investments from traditional off-line media to local search engines.

Research from comScore indicates that growth in local search is outpacing overall online search.

In 2008, the practice of using online search tools to find local businesses, products or services grew by 58%, reaching a total of 15.7 billion searches for the year.

While total online searches for the year reached 137 billion, the growth rate there was only 21% on a year-over-year basis. Local searches make up 12% of core searches on the top 5 online portals, comScore reports.

"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," says Neg Norton, President of the Yellow Pages Association. "That is a strong argument for local merchants to develop and maintain an online profile, if they haven't already done so."

Another interesting statistic is that nearly half (45%) of Internet local online directory searchers made an online purchase in the fourth quarter of 2008. If you are one of the businesses that have yet to be convinced of having an online presence, perhaps that will sway you in the right direction.

As more users conduct local searches, exposure to sponsored links for Yellow Pages data is increasing as well. Year-over-year, Internet Yellow Pages sites have seen their exposure to sponsored links increase 50 percent to reach 353 million in the month of December 2008 alone, demonstrating the increasing need for local business information.

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