Internet Yellow Pages Role in Local Search Increases as Advertisers Boost Online Budgets; Yellow Pages Association President Neg Norton Challenges Att

Here's a news release where Neg Norton, head of the YPA discusses how much more effective advertising in Internet Yellow Pages is than local search on sites such as Google and Yahoo.

My recent conversation with Steve Pollyea, VP of Marketing for Roto Rooter confirmed this finding. He said that they find that people using IYPs are much farther along the buying cycle and are closer to making a purchase.

Internet Yellow Pages Role in Local Search Increases as Advertisers Boost Online Budgets; Yellow Pages Association President Neg Norton Challenges Attendees of the 2005 American Advertising Federation National Conference

NASHVILLE, Tenn. --(Business Wire)-- June 7, 2005 -- With 84 percent of marketers increasing their Internet advertising budgets in 2005 (1), Yellow Pages Association (YPA(TM)) President Neg Norton challenged attendees today at the American Advertising Federation (AAF) National Conference by pointing out the strong value proposition for Internet Yellow Pages (IYP).



As part of the "Tap into the Enormous Growth of Local Search Engines" panel pointing to findings of a recent comScore study, Norton said that IYP users are ready-to- buy and offer a more attractive demographic when compared to average Internet users.

"IYP searchers are 71 percent more likely than the average Internet user to have an annual household income over $100,000 and are more likely to have a broadband connection," said Norton. "It is important that advertisers realize the potential of IYP when deciding where to allocate their online budgets."

Noting YellowPages.com's recent distribution deal with Switchboard, Norton pointed out that Internet Yellow Pages publishers are continuing to use distribution agreements with other online providers and search engines as a means to extend reach and strengthen their value proposition.

"The Yellow Pages Industry has responded to advertisers' needs by offering local businesses enhanced features such as improved geographic targeting capabilities and simplified packages of guaranteed clicks." said Norton. "Advertisers can easily determine their ROI for online advertising with measurements such as pay-per-click and pay-per-call."

Joining Norton on the AAF panel were representatives from Carat Interactive, Cleveland.com and Yahoo!, Inc.