Microsoft: Half of mobile searches have a local intent

You're ambling around town when suddenly you crave Chinese dumplings. You whip out your phone and after a couple of local searches you're well on your way to getting your fix.

A similar scenario plays out day after day as mobile users refer to their devices for local information - information that will help them navigate their immediate environment and solve their real-time needs and wants.

It's not surprising, then, to read of recent data from Microsoft that shows over half (53%) of mobile searches on Bing have a local intent.

Hence the development of ads that, quite literally, guide consumers from "search to store". Such ads, including Google's Expandable Map ads, appear both on the mobile web and in apps and, when clicked, provide the user with directions to a store.

"Mobile user demand for information that can be acted on in the real world, in real-time is, well, very real," writes Search Engine Land's Greg Sterling, who uncovered the data in a recent chat with Bing's Director of Search, Stefan Weitz.

"That's what this Microsoft stat reflects. If that's not an argument for mobile advertising in general and mobile search in particular, I don't know what is."

Tags: mobile marketing, mobile search, search marketing