• by Wendy Davis  @wendyndavis, March 23, 2005

Consumers are increasingly turning to the Internet for information about local products and services, at the expense of newspapers, according to a new study by The Kelsey Group and ConStat, Inc. The study, based on a February telephone survey of 500 U.S. adults, found that 70 percent of households use the Internet to hunt for local merchants and stores--up from 60 percent in October 2003. At the same time, the percentage of households seeking information about nearby stores and services from newspapers declined from 73 percent to 70 percent.

The trending indicates that it's only a matter of time until the Internet surpasses newspapers for shopping research, according to The Kelsey Group. Online users are increasingly seeking information about local retailers or professionals from the search engine giants--engines such as Google. More than half of respondents--55 percent--said they used large search engines to research shopping, up from 47 percent in October 2003. But users have also turned away to a small extent from narrower sites, such as DoctorDirectory.com and MasterPlumber.com, as well as from local directory sites like Citysearch.

The report also revealed that 74 percent of households now have Internet access at home, up from 67 percent in October 2003. Nearly eight out of 10 households--79 percent--have wireless phones, up from 71 percent 17 months ago. And almost one out of three households--31 percent--have Web access via wireless phone, up from 26 percent in October 2003.