• by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer @mp_research, July 26, 2012

According to a new Insights Report, based on data from 563 million searches and 11 billion impressions in across the YP Local Ad Network, restaurants are the top local search category, while family services represents the fastest growing search category in Q2, 2012.

 While the majority of category growth in Q4 was in shopping related categories, half of the top Q1 growing categories were service related. Other services categories with notable increases were Financial Services (28%), Travel Agencies (23%) and Shipping Services (17%).

Auto dealers reported big gains in Q1 as consumers sought relief from high gas prices in more fuel efficient vehicles. As a result, searches for Auto Sales were up nearly 50% in the period.

The biggest growth for any category was Family Services, which includes searches for Midwives, Pregnancy Centers and Child Rearing Instruction. Additionally, category searches for Child Care were up 34%.

A relatively mild winter, says the report, got people out of their houses and searching for Recreation Centers (up 71%) and Outdoor Recreation (up 79%) on their mobile devices. These categories include Batting Cages, Fishing Piers, Playgrounds, Bike Rentals, Mini Golf, Paintball and more

Following directly on the heels of the Holiday engagement season, couples got a head start on planning for their big day in Q1. In addition to 76% growth in searches for Wedding Planning, related categories such as Florists (59%), Caterers (29%) and Party Planning (17%) saw increases.

 Atlanta, ranked 5th in total searches on the Local Ad Network, has the highest digital searches per capita of any city. Average searches per person in this city are four times higher than the U.S. average. Florida is the top search state per capita with Orlando, Miami, West Palm Beach and Ft. Lauderdale all ranked in the top 10

San Francisco, a city known for being tech savvy, has eleven times more mobile searches per capita than the U.S. average. Residents of Louisiana and Florida also over-index for searches on their phones. Both states are represented by three cities in the top 10 mobile list. 

While mobile local search is quickly catching up, the majority of the searches on the YP Local Ad Network are performed online. With the exception of San Francisco, which over-indexes on mobile searches, the top online search cities are very similar to the overall top search cities. 

The top advertiser categories in Q1 also received the most clicks. The lone exception to this was Moving & Storage, which is more seasonal than the other top advertiser categories4. Clicks for Moving & Storage generally increase from March to July, when people are more apt to move.

Restaurants and Beauty Services are top clicked categories that are not represented as top advertiser categories. There is significant opportunity for advertisers in these categories to gain traffic from the YPSM Local Ad Network.

A recent study found that 56% of visitors to the central properties of the YP Local Ad Network followed up their search with a purchase. These consumers made an average of 2.7 transactions per month with businesses they find on YPSM properties, at an average value of $159 per purchase.

The number of local searches performed via  mobile web increased 72% from the previous quarter and was nearly equal to those made across all of the YPSM apps.

iPad searches continue to grow at an average of 14% every month. Fueled by the March release of the third generation iPad, these searches jumped 43% from the previous quarter 

For the complete report in PDF format, please visit YP here.