Small businesses are quickly adopting the use of search engine advertising solutions, according to new research from The Kelsey Group and ConStat, co-sponsors of the ongoing Local Commerce Monitor study.

The findings of the sixth wave of the Local Commerce Monitor indicate that among small businesses that advertise, 17 percent utilize search engine keyword advertising and/or paid inclusion tactics in Internet search results as a means of reaching potential customers.

Neal Polachek, Kelsey Group senior vice president, said this places search in the seventh position among the advertising and promotion options being used by small businesses that advertise.

"In the second and third study, at the peak of the dot-com craze, small businesses wanted to compete with big businesses and market their goods and services worldwide," Polachek said. "It seems reality has settled in and small businesses have netted out the hype, using the Internet and high-speed connectivity to market their goods and services locally, not globally."

http://www.smallbusinesscomputing.com/emarketing/article.php/2226831