Posts Tagged ‘online’

New Online Destinations Create Local Marketing Opportunities For Small Businesses

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

In my article posted on Search Engine Land this week, I discuss how advances in digital offerings are presenting small businesses with a growing range of possibilities for where to spend their ad dollars. Additionally, I discuss how owners these days are faced with the difficult task of determining how to link old and new initiatives into cohesive strategies that deliver the strongest rates of return for their businesses.

Since the start of the year, we’ve shared announcements from several major Yellow Pages companies including SuperMedia, Dex One Corp., The Berry Company, and Yellow Pages Group about new services, partnerships, and acquisitions that provide small business with the means to combine the most recent digital marketing possibilities with traditional print and online options that they’ve used for years.

Today, it’s not just about Internet Yellow Pages, which millions of small business already know and use. I’m also talking about new vertical web sites including digital coupon sites, shopping comparison sites and user review sites that are among the latest drivers of local leads and are increasingly being added to the portfolios of various Yellow Pages companies.

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

March 9, 2010 | Leave a Comment
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SuperMedia Expands Successful SuperGuarantee Program

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Recently, we’ve talked about the tough times facing many of our small business advertisers and the important role that Yellow Pages will play in ensuring their recovery.

In a clear win for small businesses nationwide, YP provider SuperMedia announced yesterday that it is continuing and expanding its successful SuperGuarantee program, which provides consumers with added confidence when hiring contractors, plumbers, auto body repair shops and thousands of other service-based businesses.

The program, launched last year, ensures that customers of participating SuperGuarantee businesses can rely on SuperMedia to help resolve any service issues they experience—or SuperMedia will reimburse the customer up to $500 of the cost of labor for the service. The continuation of the program speaks to how well it has succeeded in generating new sales leads for SuperMedia’s clients.

SuperMedia is also expanding the program to include an auto-specific offering that provides a free powertrain limited warranty covering many automotive components up to $3,000 for consumers who find and purchase qualified vehicles through Superpages.com or EveryCarListed.com, the company’s vertical auto website. Additionally, the company is expanding the capabilities of its mobile applications so that users can sign up for SuperGuarantee, register for service appointments, and file claims—all from their mobile devices.

SuperMedia is also creating a new ShieldPower program that gives small business clients more ways to advertise themselves as part of SuperGuarantee, including the ability to use the SuperGuarantee logo on the front door of their businesses, on their Web sites, business cards, TV ads, and more.

For more on SuperMedia’s announcement, click here.

March 2, 2010 | Leave a Comment
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BIA/Kelsey: YP Executives Express Cautious Optimism for 2010

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

BIA/Kelsey offers an analysis of recent Yellow Pages companies’ earnings calls that show some signs of optimism from executives such as SuperMedia CFO Dee Jones and Yell Group CEO John Condron about their outlooks for 2010.

According to the piece, the rate of decline in Yellow Pages print revenues has started to bottom out. The two executives also agreed that the negative performance of Yellow Pages’ print units is due in large part to the tough economic climate rather than a significant long-term shift in print usage and that confidence overall is increasing.

Even as Yellow Pages companies continue to add new digital and mobile services, partnerships, and acquisitions to their offerings, print remains a component of the product mix that helps local businesses generate sales leads.

For the full post, visit the BIA/Kelsey blog by clicking here.

March 2, 2010 | Leave a Comment
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Yellow Pages Group Adds 411.ca, RedFlagDeals.com to Online Portfolio

Monday, February 22, 2010

Yellow Pages Group is staying true to its promise to reposition itself in the “new digital universe” with dual announcements today regarding its acquisition of various online properties.

The Canadian Yellow Pages provider said it had purchased the 411.ca brand, a fast-growing online directory that currently attracts 10% of local search users or 13 million queries each month, expanding the footprint for YPG’s existing Canada411.ca and YellowPages.ca brands. The company said the addition of the 411.ca site will add approximately 1 million unduplicated unique monthly visitors to YPG’s online network.

Additionally, YPG took control of Clear Sky Media, a holding company that owns RedFlagDeals.com (an online discount/coupon site), Scarlett Lounge (a fashion and beauty shopping site for women), and PriceCanada.com (an online shopping price comparison site).

RedFlagsDeals.com, which alone attracts 2.2 million unique monthly users, represents a fast-growing segment in the local online space. In the U.S., for example, more than 20% of online users – or 45 million consumers – used digital coupons in 2009, according to research compiled by Coupons.com. This represented an 18% increase in use compared to 2008.

Today’s announcements come just days after YPG announced Search Engine Solutions, a new SEM offering designed specifically for small and medium-sized businesses.

These moves represent the growing shift in the industry towards expanding online directory and vertical offerings and associated services related to search engine optimization.

February 22, 2010 | Leave a Comment
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Yellow Pages Group Plans Digital Makeover, New Name

Saturday, February 13, 2010

A digital makeover is on the horizon for Yellow Pages Income Fund, the Canadian Yellow Pages provider, according to The Canadian Press.

In an interview with the outlet, president and CEO Marc Tellier said the company is, “going to look at repositioning our brand, repositioning the logo to be more representative of this new digital universe.”

In its 2009 full-year earnings release yesterday, the Yellow Pages provider announced that it has renamed its subsidiary YPG Holdings, Inc., the parent company of Yellow Pages Group and Trader Corp., as Yellow Media, Inc.

The new name is the latest in a string of recent re-brandings for Yellow Pages companies—including Idearc’s change to SuperMedia and R.H. Donnelley to DexOne Corp—and reflects the industry’s growing shift towards delivering hybrid solutions to small- and medium-sized businesses through its online, mobile, and print multimedia platforms.

Already, Yellow Media is starting to make major strides in the online and mobile space. According to its release, revenues for online directories and vertical media combined grew 24% compared to last year.

Specifically, the company said it has focused on enhancing the user experience on its different platforms. For example, YellowPages.ca, its leading online directory, now offers location-based results, interactive mapping features, additional options to help users refine their search, as well as merchant videos.

Yellow Media is also purchasing additional online verticals to help boost revenues, such as Restaurantica.com, the online restaurant and dining community we blogged about last month. Additionally, the company said it has partnered with a local search and performance advertising company and will soon launch a new search engine solutions offering.

On the mobile front, Yellow Media said it had achieved success with the launch of a series of mobile search applications for BlackBerry, iPhone, and Google Andriod users. The BlackBerry and iPhone apps have been downloaded more than 650,000 times.

For more information, read the full release here.

February 13, 2010 | Leave a Comment
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What Will Yellow Pages Create for the Tablet?

Thursday, January 28, 2010

Yesterday in San Francisco, Apple CEO Steve Jobs introduced his company’s latest, highly-anticipated innovation – the Apple iPad Tablet.

If you’ve followed the news recently, you already know that tablets are not only expected to make waves as a new consumer gadget, but also as a means for old media publishers such as newspapers and magazines to reach new customers. In addition to Apple, HP has released a tablet device, and others including Dell, Lenovo, and possibly Microsoft are planning to release tablet devices later this year.

In his presentation, Jobs noted that the iPad will support the iTunes store, most applications already available in its App Store, as well as a new iBookstore with books from major and independent publishers. The iPad will also feature Wi-Fi and Bluetooth Internet connectivity and include an option for unlimited wireless data through AT&T.

With all the excitement surrounding the tablet, I’m eager to see what Yellow Pages companies develop to take advantage of this new technology. YP companies are already changing the ways we search for information online and via mobile. I can only imagine the possibilities that tablets will bring by providing YP clients with a greater ability to share dynamic content with their target consumers, wherever they are.

January 28, 2010 | Leave a Comment
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