A big surge in the annual growth of local search outpaced growth of overall Web search, according to a study by comScore and released by the Yellow Pages Association.

The study found that local search grew 58 percent in 2008, reaching an annual total of 15.7 billion searches. By comparison, overall U.S. Web core searches grew at a smaller rate of 21 percent year-over-year, nearing 137 billion searches by the end of 2008. Local searches account for 12 percent of core searches on the top 5 portals.

Boosted by the growth in local search, Internet Yellow Pages and locally focused online business directories also saw double-digit growth of 23 percent in the same period, totaling 4.6 billion searches in 2008.

As more users do local searches, exposure to sponsored links for Yellow Pages data is increasing as well. Year-over-year, Internet Yellow Pages sites have seen their exposure to sponsored links increase 50 percent to reach 353 million in the month of December 2008 alone, signaling the increasing need for local business information.

“As local search grows, our data becomes more valuable,” said Neg Norton, president, Yellow Pages Association. “Whatever way consumers choose to find a local business, chances are the last mile of the search was supported by Yellow Pages — whether the consumer knows it or not.”

Seventy-five percent of the top 100 keywords searched on Internet Yellow Pages sites were non-branded, indicating that a majority of consumers have not decided on a specific company or product brand when they begin their search.