IYP Searches Grow In Local Category
Internet Yellow Pages searches saw 46 percent growth since last year, as local search across the Web grew by 43 percent.
Internet Yellow Pages (IYP) searches grew 46 percent in the past year, which means a 43 percent local search increase across the Web. A two-part series on local search from comScore Networks details local search behavior as well usage of Internet Yellow Pages and directory listings.
In July, 68 million Internet users in the U.S. conducted searches at IYP sites. These searchs represent a 46 percent increase over the same month last year. Yahoo sites grabbed 23.9 percent of directory searches; Verizon SuperPages served 20.1 percent; and Google Sites held 12.5 percent.
“Growth in IYP and local search has mainly been incremental,” said Serge Matta, VP of marketing solutions at comScore. “Studies have shown that the usage of print and the Internet is very complimentary. Nearly all print YP usage is for products and services located within a close proximity, whereas a good portion of IYP and local search usage is for searches ouside the local market.”
| Top Eight Internet Yellow Page Searches by Site, July 2006 | |
|---|---|
| Site | Total Yellow Pages Searches (%) |
| Total Internet | 100.0 |
| Yahoo Sites | 23.9 |
| Verizon SuperPages | 20.1 |
| Google Sites | 12.5 |
| Yellowpages.com | 12.0 |
| Time Warner Network | 7.7 |
| Local.com | 5.9 |
| InfoSpace Network | 5.1 |
| Dexonline.com | 4.1 |
| Total U.S. Home, Work and University Internet Users | |
| Source: comScore, 2006 | |
Across the Web, about 109 million U.S. Internet users conducted local searches in July. That’s about 63 percent of the U.S. online population. Local search, including searches conducted on sites serving local interests and also IYP sites, saw a 43 percent increase over July of 2005.
Google sites garnered 29.8 percent of U.S. searches; Yahoo sites served 29.2 percent; Microsoft sites saw 12.3 percent of local searches; and Time Warner properties, including AOL, got 7.1 percent of search traffic.
“In the general search environment, users are more typically doing research or browsing for information and when they use a local modifier in their search, the search engines bring up links back into their local search properties,” said Matta.
Forty-one percent of local searches were conducted for users’ home area. Of those searches, 59 percent were to locate a restaurant or an entertainment-related establishment such as a theater, theme park or sightseeing attraction. Just over half (52 percent) searched for a phone number or address. Forty-one percent searched for a local service in their home area like a car rental office, dry cleaner, or lawyer.
ComScore data are taken from a global panel of more than 2 million consumers. The research firm obtains explicit permission to confidentially capture the browsing and transaction behavior, including on- and offline purchasing.
