Superpages buys LocalSearch.com. The Backyard Web grows…

SearchEngineLand reports Idearc Media – the publisher of Verizon’s phone books , and the owner of Superpages.com – acquired the domain LocalSearch.com and have made a “…strategic investment in AmericanTowns.com.”

Loren Baker at Search Engine Journal asks if “…a massive local search land grab in action between companies like Idearch, Marchex, Dex and Local.com” exists. Um, yes, Loren. Yes it does.

Fear is a great motivator for companies. These folks clearly fear for their business. As consumers increasingly go online to find information the Yellow Pages once owned exclusively, the market for local search grows as do the opportunities for businesses drive business from their local market via the web. The next few years should shake up local business the way that e-commerce changed retail five years ago. Should be fun.