Online searches overtake Yellow Pages

10/10/2008

A recent survey has found that online searches for information on local businesses have overtaken print publication Yellow Pages.

Conducted by TMP Directional Marketing (TMPDM), a local search marketing agency, the study revealed that 31 per cent of the first sources used are search engines, while only 30 per cent are the Yellow Pages.

Last year the results revealed that print resources were more popular with one-third opting to use the Yellow Pages and only 30 per cent the internet.

Gregg Stewart, senior vice president of interactive TMPDM, commented: "As consumer local search grows with online and offline resources, national advertisers must develop strategic plans for integrating the various mediums into their national programs."

Despite this, he noted that many prefer to do their research online but to make actual purchases via a phone call or a visit to the stores.

The growing dominance of online searches makes effective search engine optimisation all the more important.

In related news, recent figures from the Internet Advertising Bureau revealed that paid-for-search saw an increase of 28 per cent year-on-year growth in the first half of 2008.