Last week, during the Kelsey Group’s well-attended Interactive Local Media 2007 conference in Los Angeles, SearchEngineWatch.com announced that the Yellow Pages Association (YPA) launched a new mobile section to its Local Search Guide.

The Local Search Guide (located on the web at www.localsearchguide.org) provides information on Internet Yellow Pages, search engines, search tools, vertical directories, and now profiles local mobile tools.

It was first launched in the last quarter of 2004. The Guide’s new mobile section will include profiles of companies including Medio, JumpTap and Call Genie that provide mobile tools, voice-based search, and free directory assistance.

The Yellow Pages started with print, moved online, and now we’re going mobile, said Stephanie Hobbs, VP of Communications for the Yellow Pages Association. Hobbs explained that the YPA started thinking about mobile search about six months ago. In order to track interest, it decided to poll visitors to its Local Search Guide.

According to its home page poll, 66% of visitors are using mobile phones to search for local information. Of these voters, 37% say they use free directory assistance, 17% most often use SMS/text messaging and 12% say they use downloadable mobile search applications to find local information. An additional 34% report not using mobile search because the experience is frustrating.

People on the go are really looking for information and they want it right now, Hobbs said. When it was first launched, Local Search Guide only featured about 100 business profiles but, with the addition of the mobile section, about 20 more have been added. Through this new section, she added, the YPA is attempting to broaden the mobile experience for consumers everywhere.