20% of Google Searches Are Local (40% on Mobile)
Today at TechCrunch Disrupt in NYC, Google’s Marissa Mayer revealed that 20 percent of searches across Google properties are local. What’s more (literally), that number bumps up to 40 percent when we’re talking about mobile searches.
Of course numbers like this always come back to the question of what constitutes a local search. But directionally speaking (assuming Google’s definition has remained constant) local’s share is on the rise. Google told us two years ago that local represents about a third of mobile searches.
Mayer also revealed that Maps for mobile has surpassed 200 million active users and that mobile makes up 40 percent of all Google Maps usage. She expects next month mobile will surpass a 51 percent share, thus outweighing desktop maps usage.
That should be a symbolic and watershed moment for mobile when it happens. More important, there are implications for optimizing SERPs for this mobile local user intent. That of course means local-centric results, maps and other emerging areas like instant deals.
