Posts Tagged ‘AT&T’

AT&T Interactive Partners with Expedia

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

AT&T Interactive just announced an exciting new partnership with Expedia Affiliate Network, the online travel company that owns Expedia.com.  Users will be able to check hotel rates, room availability and book rooms for hotels listed on AT&T’s YellowPages.com and YP.com.

The move is the latest by a Yellow Pages company towards developing new online tools and partnerships as a means of generating new revenues. As we reported last month, Canada’s Yellow Pages Group acquired Restaurantica.com, a popular restaurant and dining online community, in an effort to capitalize on the growing trend of users making their dining decisions online and based on user recommendations and reviews.

According to the release, the agreement creates a “natural extension” to the travel and hotel information already available on AT&T’s local search sites. In addition to local travel-related listings, users will now have access to Expedia’s expansive hotel content, including maps and points of interest, hotel photos and virtual tours.

While the partnership is a win for AT&T, it’s also a great indication of the importance that online retailers such as Expedia are placing on Yellow Pages’ local search. As Sunil Bhatt, vice president and general manager for Expedia Affiliate Network, notes, “Aligning with AT&T Interactive gives Expedia a way to reach consumers who are already looking for local hotel information.”

And the number of consumers going online for travel is growing. According to PhoCusWright U.S. Online Travel, more than 39% of all travel bookings are now being done on the Web. With today’s announcement, Yellow Pages will have an ever greater opportunity to be a part of the action.

February 9, 2010 | Leave a Comment
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The New Local: Location Based, Social Centric & Behaviorally Targeted

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

In my “Locals Only” column this month, I discuss the impact of recent announcements by major tech, online, and mobile companies regarding their plans for local search:

  • According to a recent patent submission, Yahoo is in the process of developing a mobile local search application that will take into account a user’s location, the time of day, information in the user’s calendar, past behaviors, weather, social networking data, information about the proximity of a social contact, and other data when providing results.
  • AT&T told Forbes about its plans to launch buzz.com, a new local social search site that will reportedly let users poll their friends and ask experts for advice about different nearby businesses.
  • And Apple announced its new iPad tablet, which incorporates iPhone apps, Google Maps, a built-in compass, WiFi, and wireless data capabilities – allowing users to access location-based information from wherever they are.

With so much change, I think it’s important to reflect on how these new technologies and services will affect our industry— and what our small business clients will need to do to keep up.

There’s no doubt that as media continues to fragment, and marketing tools become more complicated and sophisticated, many opportunities and challenges lies ahead for the small business owner.

For my thoughts, check out my Search Engine Land column here.

February 9, 2010 | Leave a Comment
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The Berry Company Transforms, Expands Digital Offerings

Friday, January 29, 2010

It’s the last day of a very busy month for Yellow Pages companies.  We came out of the gates of 2010 with a number of important stories about the transformation of our industry, from SuperMedia, R.H. Donnelley (soon to be known as Dex One Corp.), and AT&T.

So it’s no surprise that yesterday, The Berry Company announced that it was entering into contracts with two Web site development and search engine marketing companies, Yodle, Inc. and Web.com Group Inc. These partnerships will help Berry to further expand beyond its traditional roots in print publishing to become an integrated provider of both print and digital local search services.

Earlier this month, Berry announced a transformative effort to put it in a stronger position to assist small businesses in developing a multi-platform approach to their advertising, including print directories, Internet Yellow Pages, web sites, search engine marketing optimization and video.

I think the comment from Scott Pomeroy, Berry’s president and CEO, in his announcement this week was a great statement that reflects what’s going on in our industry at large.  He said, “The launch is the culmination of the strategy and plans we have been working on for the past two years.  We are expanding our legacy role as a print yellow pages publisher to become a local search services provider in order to meet our clients’ need for leads from the many sources consumers use today as they search for local businesses.  We have spent the last year re-engineering every aspect of our business, which we believe will fundamentally transform how we operate and serve our clients.”

I’m looking forward to seeing all the news of the past month turn into real results for Yellow Pages companies, and for our advertising customers as well.

January 29, 2010 | Leave a Comment
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YPA Stresses Online and Mobile Opportunities for Local Search

Thursday, December 3, 2009

I wanted to share an article posted on TheStreet.com earlier this week regarding YPA’s efforts to steer its members towards developing new search opportunities on mobile, social networking, and local-based Internet platforms.

As we’ve written on this blog recently, social media and mobile are playing increasingly important roles as a growing number of consumers adopt these mediums to conduct local searches.

In an interview for the article, I explained how Yellow Pages members are making a concerted effort to embrace these new tools. Some of our members’ efforts include:

Click here to view the full article.

December 3, 2009 | Leave a Comment
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‘Yellow Pages TV’ Gives Local TV Advertisers New Choices

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Here’s an interesting story that’s been making some news online. This week, Comcast Media Center will unveil “Yellow Pages on TV,” an interactive television application featuring contact information for local businesses, for local cable operators that the company serves.

I haven’t seen a full demo, but the application’s functionality appears similar to the YELLOWPAGES.COM TV application currently available to AT&T U-verse subscribers, which also allows for fast searches for local business information via the TV

According to Forbes.com, the move “is big news for interactive television advertising” in that it will allow TV distributers to deliver more targeted ad opportunities for advertisers, similar to offerings currently available through web advertising.

The application reportedly allows users to scroll through lists by business type or company name and then access contact info – all through the remote.

Local businesses can pay for specific marketing services, including higher search rankings in the application, banner and video ads. Business can also pay for a feature that allows users to e-mail or call a business through their TV. The offerings range from $8 a month for companies to be listed in bold typeface, to $5,000 a month for businesses to feature five 10-minute videos and a higher search-ranking.

FourthWall Media, the Texas-based company which developed the “Yellow Pages on TV” app, believes the service will be attractive to small businesses that don’t currently run TV ads, but have advertised with Yellow Pages in the past.

I think this will be something to keep an eye on, particularly if other television service providers jump on the bandwagon. There’s significant branding opportunity for Yellow Pages companies as directory services expand to new mediums.   

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Updated 11-13-09

November 3, 2009 | 1 Comment
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Yahoo! and AT&T Partner to Expand Local Advertising Portfolio

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

On today’s Yahoo! earnings call, CEO Carol Bartz announced a new sales partnership with AT&T that’s been generating some buzz. The agreement will enable more than 5,000 AT&T sales representatives to sell Yahoo! display inventory to local businesses across the United States.

We’ve been touting our “feet on the street” sales force as a differentiator for Yellow Pages companies for quite some time. Our presence in market enables us to develop personal relationships with small businesses who trust their Yellow Pages representative to build a advertising approach that will generate sales leads.

Through the AT&T and Yahoo! partnership, Yahoo! will have the advantage of tapping into those customer relationships that are held by AT&T. In turn, AT&T can add Yahoo!’s display inventory and targeting technology to its portfolio.

I believe that these kinds of partnerships are extremely important for our industry. At the end of the day, it’s about our ability to sit down with advertisers, understand their business challenges, and pull together programs that work for them. The more platforms we have to offer, the more cross-selling we do, the better it is for our customer. Ultimately, it helps solidify our position as a trusted advisor to small businesses well into the future.

July 22, 2009 | Leave a Comment
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Forbes.com: Not Ma Bell’s Yellow Pages

Thursday, June 18, 2009

Forbes.com posted a story today that previews a next-generation Yellowpages.com offering built for an under-30, social networking-oriented audience:

Later this year, AT&T plans to roll out an alternative brand for local search, geared primarily at younger users. The site will feature the same core data – listings and advertiser information – as Yellowpages.com, but differ in how it presents information and how it uses user-submitted information. While Yellowpages.com returns data based on advertisers’ profiles, similar to a directory, the new site will prioritize results based on a user’s social connections and recommendations, says Yoo.

Forbes.com says that AT&T advertising solutions unit, which includes its Yellow Pages business, generated $1.3 billion in revenue in the first quarter of the year, employs more than 5,000 salespeople to help businesses reach these consumers, and attracts between 21 million and 30 million unique visitors a month to YellowPages.com.

Take a couple of minutes and read the full story. It’s great that Forbes is recognizing change in our industry, especially innovation that’s tied into important social networking trends.

June 18, 2009 | 2 Comments
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Extending the Local Search Network

Thursday, January 22, 2009

Today’s announcement that AT&T Interactive and Idearc Media have entered into a cross distribution agreement to help businesses increase their online exposure aptly demonstrates the changes taking place in our industry.

The agreement gives YELLOWPAGES.COM and SUPERPAGES.COM advertisers the opportunity for additional online placements on each site. YELLOWPAGES.COM and SUPERPAGES.COM will also have the opportunity to share business profiles and other content from each other’s advertisers — providing consumers access to more comprehensive and relevant information.

This partnership is an example of how Yellow Pages companies are looking for creative ways to take advantage of local search, generate qualified sales leads for small businesses, and provide greater value for advertisers.

It’s also about making it as easy as possible for consumers to find the information they need when they need it. What better way to do that than for these two companies to bring together the full weight of their experience and relationships.

Read AT&T and Idearc’s announcement.

January 22, 2009 | Leave a Comment
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