Friday, September 29, 2006

Study: Local Search Gains Momentum

comScore Networks is reporting in a new study that the local search market continued to gain momentum, with a 43 percent increase in local searches online in July over the same period last year. comScore said that 63 precent of U.S. Internet users, approximately 109 million people, conducted a local search online in July, up 43 percent from July of 2005. Leading web sites for local searches were Google (30 percent) and Yahoo! (29 percent). Irvine-based Local.com (operated by Interchange) garnered 1.9 percent of the searches for the month. The study found that 59% of searches revolved around restaurant or entertainment-related searches such as theater, theme parks, or sightseeing attractions.