SEARCH INDUSTRY

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Local consumers search before they buy
• 70% of U.S. households go online to find local businesses. [1]
• About 50% of online shoppers conduct research via a search engine before making an online purchase. [2]
• Yellow Page usage has declined by almost 20% since 2003. [3]
• Search engines are responsible for most of the Internet’s growth as a local shopping resource. [4]
• Broadband usage is on the rise and as more people get faster connectivity, they’re spending more time online looking for products and services. [5]
• 71% of users report that they are better able to find sales and discounts online than offline. [6]
• Specialized, or content-specific sites (i.e. local resource sites) are the new destination for Internet users and advertisers – they produce more relevant results for the users and better ROI by delivering the right kind of customer to the advertiser. [7]
• Local businesses can see 10 times better ROI from local search advertising compared to Yellow Pages listings. [8]

Article Excerpts

Understanding Searcher Behavior
Local search is growing faster than general Web search. 43% of search engine users are looking for a local merchant to buy something offline and 54% have substituted search for the phone book.

Home Buyers Look Online - eMarketer, Jan. 24, 2006
Use of the Internet in home searching and buying is transforming the real estate industry. According to the National Association of Realtors, 77% of home searchers use the Internet in 2005, up from 2% of buyers in 1995. The Web is now the most-used resource for home buying.

Online Ad Spending Hits New Record
Search and display ads continue to lead the Internet advertising landscape. US Internet ad revenues totaled $16.9 billion in 2006, up 35% from 2005, according to the "Internet Advertising Revenue Report" from the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).

New Research on How We Search
Search engines remain the most popular online research tool. iCrossing, New York, and Harris Interactive interviewed more than 2,300 people and found that 77 percent of adults who research online before making a purchase decision use search engines. These studies give further weight to the growing importance of search in our lives.

Three Out of Four Web Users Shop Online
In a survey of 6,100 U.S. Web users, 77% referred to themselves as online shoppers, meaning that they regularly make purchases or seek product information online. 63% of them compare products online more than any other outlet.

Footnotes:
[1] Kelsey Group and conStat, March 2005
[2] “Search Before the Purchase,” DoubleClick and comScore, February 2005
[3] AdWeek, March 2005
[4] “Broadband Consumers Make Local Search a Reality,” Greg Sterling, May 31, 2005
[5] ibid
[6] BizRate research, March 2005
[7] “The end of the [Google-type] search,” Jack Kapica, Globe Technology, May 31, 2005
[8] “Local Search: Convert and Win,” Frederick Marckini, March 21, 2005, Clickz.com