The number of U.S. searches grew 31 percent across all media platforms between June 2008 and June 2009 (21.9 billion searches in June 2009), according to a new study by TMP Directional Marketing.
Search engines continue to be the main source for local business information. Local search sites increased slightly in usage, from 11 percent in 2008 to 12 percent in 2009. Also Internet yellow page sites gained ground as primary sources of local business information, from 19 percent usage last year to 21 percent this year.
"Each media type plays an important role in the consumer purchase process. Buyers use numerous channels at different times and for different reasons," said Gregg Stewart, president of
Online search is used earlier in the purchase process than offline search. The main reason consumers search online first is to research the best brands to buy and to find businesses that offer those brands. About 39 percent of consumers conduct online research to aid in purchase selection while only 17 percent go offline to research.
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