Local.com Q1 results surpass expectations

Local.com Corp., a local search engine, reported it experienced a sharp acceleration in growth in its first-quarter financial results.

Local.com's search engine marketing delivered better margins than the company had expected. In the first quarter it closed several distribution deals, grew traffic and completed $8 million of financing.

This year Local.com plans to grow organic traffic through continued enhancements to the site.

First-quarter revenue was $4.9 million, $600,000 more than the company anticipated and up 55 percent from the first quarter 2006.

Local search revenue was $4.1 million for the first quarter, up 258 percent over the first quarter of 2006.

National search revenue was $800,000 for the first quarter, down from $1 million the previous year.

Local.com served 30 million monthly unique visitors in the first quarter, compared to 24 million in the first quarter of 2006 and 26 million in the fourth quarter of 2006. The number of visits per user was 1.98, up from 1.9 in the fourth quarter of 2006 and 1.5 in first quarter of 2006.

The company forecasts second-quarter revenue of between $4.9 million and $5.1 million.