When did you perform a search for local services last time? Yesterday? An hour ago? Local Search is growing swiftly and is reported to double for paid search to almost $1 billion this year - compared to $418 million of year 2005.

According to the latest survey conducted by Nielsen//NetRatings’ among the 2800 consumers 70% have searched for locally situated business and services using the Internet and 46% of them did so in the last 3 month.

Considering that 90% of respondents have found local search to be effective for finding services or business in a particular area, costs spent on local search advertising are obviously giving Advertisers great returns on their investment. Kate Kaye at ClickZ also has a great article on the Local Media vs. Search Engine battle that is waging.

Borrell Associates report, “2006 Local Search Advertising” also predicts dramatic growth in local search spending; their estimates reach $4 billion by the year 2010.

In my opinion, local paid search is worth spending your advertising dollars on and definitely should be considered when planning the overall advertising budget and strategy.

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