RefreshClassifieds

Google has officially launched their Print Adwords for Newspapers today.  The service has been in beta for just under a year with a limited selection of Newspapers and advertisers.   While the service is not directly available for Classifieds, advertisers can purchase display advertising in the classified section.  Here’s the Google description:

Classifieds
Classifieds are short notices usually for offered services, business listings, items for sale, or ‘wanted’ ads. Classified ads generally appear in ads-only sections, grouped with other ads with similar content. Typically text-based, classified ads can consist of as little as the product or service’s title and a phone number. Google Print Ads does not currently accept classified ads, FSIs, or circulars – only run of press (ROP) ads.

I think the most interesting line is “Google Print Ads does not currently accept classified ads”. A little foreshadowing I think…

The Trader Media Group in the UK is offering a service for classified advertisers to filter inbound calls from unsolicited services.  The service is available primarily to Autotrader.co.uk advertisers and filters out 220 known solicitors that typically canvas the Autotrader.co.uk listings.  The service is called Telesafe and has filter out 36,000 unsolicited calls so far.

The service works by replacing the advertisers phone number in the classified ad with a phone number that can be used to filter calls.    Before the call is actually connected its checked against a list of known numbers and automatically dropped if the call is coming from a known canvasing company.  The service is provided for free to all advertisers as an option.

I think this is a great example of extending the value of paid classified.   As more and more smaller classified sites pop-up this canvasing and solicitation issue will become a bigger problem.  AutoTrader.co.uk solves this problem as a value add for its advertisers.