NCDirectories

Local Search Now 25% of Internet Commercial Activity

New survey conducted by The Kelsey Group and BizRate.com shows significant usage of search engines by online buyers for finding local business information.

Princeton, NJ (February 11, 2004) – The findings of a new survey of more than 5,000 online buyers conducted by The Kelsey Group and BizRate.com reveal that local commercial searches – those seeking merchants "near my home or work" – represent 25.1% of all searches being performed by online buyers, more than double the amount previously estimated by analysts.

"We had calculated the number of local commercial searches at about 10% of all searches being conducted," said Greg Sterling, director of The Kelsey Group's Digital Directories: Interactive Local Media Continuous Advisory Service. "This survey data suggests the number could be more than twice that figure."

Chuck Davis, President and CEO of BizRate.com said, "Consumers are increasingly using search for shopping related queries. In fact, over a third (36%) of all search activity is now shopping-based, defined as using search functionality to look for a merchant, research a purchase or make an online purchase. We expect to see shopping searches continue to increase.

Complete survey results will be presented at The Kelsey Group's upcoming conference, "Drilling Down on Local Search: Drivers & Barriers to SME Adoption," taking place March 30-31, at the Santa Clara Marriott, Santa Clara, California.

Survey highlights include:

• Sixty-four percent of respondents said that search engines were the "main way" they find things on the Internet.
• Commercial search results were rated as "good" or "excellent" by 80% of respondents.
• Forty-four percent of survey respondents are performing more local commercial searches than one year ago.

All of the respondents to the online survey had made at least one online purchase in the past year. Respondents were mostly U.S. residents (93%) and generally equally distributed across all regions of the country; 59% were female and 41% were male. The total number of survey respondents was 5,582.