5th Annual 15miles/Localeze Local Search Usage Study Conducted by comscore With five years of data and insight, the 15miles/Localeze Local Search Usage Study, conducted by comscore, is the comprehensive unbiased view of the local search market based on consumer usage. While other research studies conducted by media associations or media publishers with vested interests of defending media spending, our study is media agnostic with the sole purpose of reporting the rapid state of change in consumers' local media habits. This includes the shift from traditional media sources to an ever increasing menu of digital and mobile options. This year's Local Search Usage Study features a new approach to measuring mobile usage. In years past, we categorized mobile as a media channel, integrating its usage with search engines, local search sites, Internet Yellow Pages (IYPs), etc. This year, mobile is categorized instead as a mode of usage. The recategorization allows the study to focus on the usage of various local search sites and separately the mode of search including desktop, mobile and tablet. Localeze, a new Local Search Study partner, brings background and knowledge to the study, as the leading business listings Identity management provider in the Local Search industry. Since local search effectiveness and optimization is tied to Name, Address and Phone (NAP) listings, it was vital to include a partner that could help lend expertise in this area as the study evolves. Objectives and Methodology The objective of the Local Search Usage Study was to monitor the shifts in consumer s local search behaviors, opinions and media selection. Monitoring these changes demonstrates how consumers use and value search engines, print and Internet Yellow Pages (IYPs), local search sites, emerging media and more. The Local Search Usage Study consisted of two components: survey results and observed online behavior. These two components helped determine if what consumers say about their search experiences are in line with how they search. Sample Size Category Definition Total Internet Yellow Pages Sites Local Search Sites 4,205 1,022 1,107 1,198 SuperPages.com Yellowpages.com (YP.com) DexKnows.com Yellowbook.com Local.com Google Local/Maps Yahoo! Local Bing Local Citysearch.com City.Ask.com/ Maps.Ask.com Mapquest.com Yelp.com Portal Sites Google.com Yahoo.com MSN.com/Bing.com AOL.com Ask.com
Definitions: What is Search? User interaction where the user is presented with a search result page The search result page allows the user to refine or change search parameters The search can be initiated from a drop-down or link as long as the previous two criteria are met. Search Example What is a Local Portal Search? comscore upholds a rolling three-month dictionary of local search listing identifiers from the top portal sites. An example of a local identifier is: Local results for pizza near Reston VA. This local identifier dictionary is applied across all collected web search. Any web searches including a local listing identifier are flagged as local searches for the given reporting period (month, quarter and year). Local Portal Search (one-box search) with local intent What is an IYP/Local Search? Business directory searches conducted on internet yellow pages and local search sites. (Traditionally two-box search) Internet yellow pages and local search sites. (traditionally two-box search)
Survey Results In December 2011, comscore administered the Local Search Usage Study survey to online users of localbusiness search (the survey sample was taken from comscore s proprietary panel of two million online consumers). For survey purposes, local-business search is defined as follows: A Local-business search retrieves information including a local business name, phone number, address, hours of operation, specials, promotions, products carried, payment types accepted, etc. After participants were emailed an invitation to take the online survey, structured to be completed in approximately 15 minutes, comscore collected 4,205 completed responses. The results were grouped into three major site categories (see Table 1). Observed Online Behaviors Online behaviors were based on a sample of one million consumers, who agreed to have their Internet searches monitored anonymously.
Executive Summary: The Social, Local and Mobile (SoLoMo) revolution fueled particularly by the rapid adoption of smartphone mobile devices and tablets now dominates the search landscape. As consumers rapidly adopt new devices and new methods to access local business information, online local listings have become the most relevant and trusted search results. Over the past five years, dramatic changes in how consumers select businesses in the local marketplace have evolved from a heavy reliance on directories and local media sources such as printed Yellow Pages to online mediums, such as search engines, local search sites, first on desktops and now increasingly on mobile devices including tablets. This year we have observed six (6) major trends that marketers should understand and leverage in the coming year: Trend 1 US Search & Local Search Market Continues to Grow At an Impressive Rate Local search, as a category, continues to get bigger with 144 percent growth since 2007. Today, consumers are increasingly using new methods to research and select businesses in the local marketplace. This requires markers to expand their traditional marketing plans to include these sources or risk a reduction in the volume of sales leads from the fragmenting marketplace. Trend 2 Explosion of Tablets and Mobile Shapes Local Search and Buying Behavior Tablet owners are the most active local searchers with 64 percent indicating at least weekly local searches on the device. Findings also showed that tablets are a critical asset throughout all stages of the local business search and buying cycle and lead to a higher likelihood of making a purchase, with 86 percent of respondents making a purchase from their most recent tablet-based local search. Sixty-one percent of smartphone owners surveyed reported conducting local searches from a device. Mobile phone users indicated that the number one reason for using a mobile device for a local business search is the on-the-go necessity for fast information. Additionally, 49 percent of mobile and tablet users reported using apps for local business searches. Trend 3 New Methods for Finding Local Business Information Including Social and Daily Deals In years past, Local Search practitioners were concerned primarily with searches on portal search engines, local search specialty sites and IYPs. With the rise of social networks and daily deal providers introducing location-based services, consumers are becoming savvier about accessing local business information. In fact, social network local business search has increased 67 percent since 2010 and 35 percent of individuals that primarily use social networks for local search, do so on a daily basis. Also, local business searchers are heavily engaged with social local content through consumer reviews, with 45 percent of social network local business users submitting reviews online for local business. While there has been recent speculation that daily deals are on the decline, 60 percent of survey respondents reported usage of daily deals. In fact, 88 percent of respondents that use Groupon and 86 percent of respondents that use Living Social, the two most popular daily deals providers, said they are
highly satisfied with the purchases from these sites. Eighty-six percent of survey respondents that use daily deals revealed that they have or plan to purchase future deals from these businesses. Trend 4 Local Listings the Most Relevant and Trusted Search Results for Consumers When searching online for local businesses, basic business Name, Address, Phone Number (NAP) information is still the most critical search data. Additionally, online searchers do not believe paid results or even general search results are as relevant or trustworthy as local search results. According to this year's findings, 61 percent of online searchers consider local search results to be more relevant and 58 percent consider local search results to be more trustworthy. On the contrary, only 10 percent of online searchers indicated paid search results were more relevant and 9 percent felt they were more trustworthy. Also, local business information is important for today's social networkers. 63 percent of social networkers are more likely to use a local business if the business has information available on a social networking site. Trend 5 Ratings & Reviews Used Often, But Lack Complete Content The majority of consumers, 61 percent, considers ratings and reviews an important factor in selecting a business. However, only 29 percent actually use ratings and reviews in their purchase process. The primary reason for the difference in importance and usage is the availability of ratings and review content for consumers to use. Only 27 percent of consumers (up from 23% in 2010) have submitted a rating or review online. So if ratings and reviews are important to consumers, it then stands to reason that businesses and brands with more content will be considered and selected by consumers more often. Trend 6 Local Searches Have Shifted from Business Name to Category 2012 marked the first year where the majority of local searches conducted on portal sites have shifted from specific business searches (business name) to non-specific business searches (category/keyword). To use a traditional media analogy; users have shifted from white page searching behavior of finding listings to more of a yellow pages behavior of searching and shopping local search resources to determine where to buy products and services. Additionally, we observed increases in this behavior shift amongst all local search platforms, e.g., local search sites, IYPs, etc. This signals the need to for businesses to move beyond simple Name Address & Phone (NAP) listing optimization and augment these activities with more robust content development and distribution to leverage this changing buyer behavior. The above six trends require marketers to evolve their marketing strategy and execution plans to leverage the consumer migration from traditional media vehicles to local online resources and their accelerated adoption of mobile devices, including tablets. Because local searches are largely tied to consumers seeking physical business; NAP information, business listings identity management is the foundational element for marketers seeking to add Local into their marketing arsenal.
Additional Data Supporting Key 6 Trends Trend 1 US Search & Local Search Market Continues to Grow At an Impressive Rate Local search, as a category, continues to get bigger with 144 percent growth since 2007. Today, consumers are increasingly using new methods to research and select businesses in the local marketplace.
Trend 2 Explosion of Tablets and Mobile Shapes Local Search and Buying Behavior Consumers that own and use smartphones conduct local searches nearly twice as much (61% vs. 32%) as general mobile phone users. With 55 percent year over year growth, smartphone penetration has dramatically accelerated over the past two years, signaling future increases in local searches conducted from mobile devices. As tablets grow in popularity (consumers own 60 million tablets today), marketers need to pay close attention. Usage behaviors of tablet users versus mobile phone users differ in two ways. 1) Mobile phone users seek information on the 2) Tablet users want more complete information in an easy to use format that is less expensive than traditional computing platforms (PC/laptop).
The purchase rate by device reveals that mobile phone users are 24 percent more likely and tablet users 48 percent more likely to make a purchase than all local searchers on PC, laptop, mobile phones and tablet devices. Additionally, tablet users purchase amounts skew higher with 38 percent spending $100+ per purchase versus 32 percent of mobile phone and all users of local search. And finally, tablet users are more active local business searchers with more than 64 percent of users accessing their tablet at least weekly for local searches.
Trend 3 New Methods for Finding Local Business Information Including Social and Daily Deals Consumers use of non-search sites for locating and selecting local businesses has continued to increase dramatically throughout 2011. Fully 15 percent of local searchers accessed social networking sites for their local search needs up from 9 percent in 2010; a 66 percent increase. Facebook continues to dominate social network sites used for local search with 91 percent usage by social network users, nearly 146 percent more usage than second most used site Twitter. Perhaps a sign of the tough economic times, 60 percent of survey respondents now use daily deals. These respondents are more cautious about purchases due to the struggling economy. Daily deals are primarily researched on PC/laptops.
Interestingly, there has been a large amount of press surrounding daily deals sites and their influence and value. Many stories have stated that daily deal sites provide benefits in the form of increased consumer trials of local businesses; however, articles have been quick to point out that consumers do not often make repeat purchases after using a daily deal voucher. Our data suggests just the opposite with 86 percent of respondents stating they have or intend to purchase multiple deals from the same business. From a consumer point of view, satisfaction with daily deals sites remains high with the top two sites, Groupon and Living Social, garnering 88 percent and 86 percent satisfaction respectively. The Daily Deal market remains crowded, with consumers sampling many different sources.
Trend 4 Local Listings the Most Relevant and Trusted Search Results for Consumers To determine the relevance and trust of search result sets, survey respondents were shown the example pictured below and asked, When looking at search results, what section of the page has the most relevant results? This question was followed by, When looking at your search results, what section of the page has the most trustworthy results? Local search results were chosen nearly 2 to 1 over the second selected natural search results; traditionally termed organic results. Most surprisingly, paid results appearing at the top of the search results page and along the right side of the page scored lowest on both measures. One can infer that consumers in a local search mode prefer listing information with the business listings information (NAP Name, Address & Phone Number) to promotional advertising leading to the advertiser s site. This is further reinforced by the fact that local searchers post-search contact method is via store visit (38%) and via telephone (29%), versus online contact (12%).
Trend 5 Ratings & Reviews Used Often, But Lack Complete Content The paradox of ratings and reviews continued in 2011 with 61 percent of consumers stating that online consumer ratings and reviews are important in making their local business purchase selection, yet less than half, 29 percent of consumers, actually used consumer ratings and reviews in their purchasing decisions. The reason for the difference in desired versus stated behavior can be attributed to the amount of ratings and review material available to consumers during the online purchase process. Consumers desire the information, yet when conducting their search, ratings and review content is not available to aid their purchase decision. These findings demonstrate that one of the key opportunities for local businesses is to encourage customers to post ratings and reviews on local search resources to increase the selection of their business. Additionally, ratings and reviews are a key to optimizing their local listings position in search results.
Trend 6 Local Searches Have Shifted from Business Name to Category Local search continues to mature as a means for consumers to shape purchase decisions in their local marketplace. This has ramifications for both small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) and major brands alike. The explosion of both local content and devices has changed how consumers seek and select businesses. In just a few years, local consumers have shifted from PC/laptops to mobile phones and tablet devices with robust local search capabilities and specialty local search apps. This new content and ubiquity of devices has changed how consumers search, shifting business namespecific searching to more category-related searches. This evolution signals the shift in consumer usage mode from finders to shoppers. With this progression, businesses and brands need to expand their focus to harness additional content and material that enables them to help consumers select their business based on a comparison with others in their category.
Key Takeaways Total online search has seen growth over the past year with approximately 70 percent of online searches occurring on a search engine Search Engines are the #1 primary source for local business search, though social network local business search has seen the most growth. Local search continues to get bigger, with 144 percent growth since 2007. This fact requires markers to expand their traditional marketing plans to include these sources or risk a reduction in the volume of sales leads from the fragmenting marketplace. With increased smartphone adoption, mobile local search has increased, resulting in a higher demand for time-sensitive, on-the-go need for local business information The #1 reason for using a mobile device for a local business search is due to the on-the-go necessity for fast information. Mobile users have a larger opportunity to purchase from a local business shortly after the search while on-the-go and are more likely to purchase a product after searching compared with PC searchers. Tablet owners are using their tablets more often and for the entire process of their local business search Users prefer tablets for conducting more complete and comprehensive local business searches Tablets are a critical asset throughout a local business search and lead to a higher likelihood of making the purchase. Social network local business search usage has increased nearly 3x since 2008 Social network local business search users are still heavily engaged with social local content through usage of consumer reviews both contributing and using the consumer generated content Local Listings the Most Relevant and Trusted Search Results for Consumers When searching online for local businesses basic business Name, Address, Phone Number (NAP) information is the most Relevant and Trusted Search Results.
About 15miles: 15miles is part of the Geary LSF Group and is a leader in local, mobile and social marketing solutions for national and regional brands. Applying the management team's proven expertise and rich history in local search marketing to its services, 15miles offers a variety of solutions that includes social marketing, search engine optimization, pay per-click advertising, website design and development, Internet yellow pages, local business listing management and mobile solutions. For more information, please visit www.15miles.com or call 855.515.0015 About Localeze: Localeze, a Neustar service, is a trusted business listings identity manager for local search. Brands and businesses trust Localeze to maintain their online local visibility through direct relationships with local search platforms. Through these relationships and access to authoritative local business information, Localeze is a trusted provider of enhanced online local business listings in the local search industry. For more information, please visit www.localeze.com.