LeeAnn Prescott of HitWise shared data this week about the growth of what she calls “Social Local Search” sites — i.e., Judy’s Book, Yelp, Insider Pages, and the like. These are the types of sites discussed in my Guide to “Other” Local Search Marketing Options. (Yes, I know I need to add Judy’s Book and others….)

The big yellow pages sites are still dominant in terms of pure traffic, and will probably stay that way for at least a couple years. But the numbers prove that there’s value for small businesses — or any business dependent on local search traffic — to get involved in these smaller sites. These are places where active communities are developing, and where a small business can really see the power of user reviews in action. And they’re only going to grow (until the Yellow Pages start buying them out?).