RefreshClassifieds

Stuff.co.nz is reporting on an interesting case in New Zealand where Registered Therapists were required to be listed in the same Directory Category as less reputable massage parlors.    The perception among many Registered Therapists was that they were being included with Brothel operators.

They have been successful in getting the Yellow Pages NZ staff to re-consider the category and how businesses should be grouped.  I think the most interesting aspect of this situation is that its showing how inadequate directory categories can be when used in isolation.   Its a difficult balance trying to maintain directory categories that remain relevant for advertisers and consumers.   We don’t see the same level of problem online because there is no much more information that can be quickly communicated to distinguish Registered Therapists from Brothels.

Yellow Book USA has just announced that it has launched a video classified ad service, for its advertisers.

Yellow Book USA is one of America’s largest yellow pages and online local search companies. So given its profile, it is clear that their video classified offering, once fully rolled out, will cater only to the professional or small business client, versus the private customer who is selling an used iPod (iMoondo, IQZone, etc…). The Yellow Book USA group are still calling the now live, video ad product a test and are using terms like – it will likely be a part of our product set-. But let’s face it, it needs to be a part of their product set to stay current in the market place.

Placing a video ad on yellowbook.com, follows the Superpages platform where a customer signs up for the service, works with a videographer, who then films, and edits the ad. In the end, the advertiser receives a professional piece that will play online, along with their already existing display ad.

Within the next four years, it is expected that 4.3 billion dollars will be spent in video advertising.

Local.com has announced that they have renewed a multi-year deal with Yahoo to provide sponsored links on Local.com.  The deal seems like a good relationship for both parties but its not clear how successful the Yahoo search marketing products have been.  Yahoo has been steadily loosing ground to Microsoft Live.com and Google is the gorillia in the space.  The Yahoo new search marketing system is currently only available in the US but Microsoft and Google have launched internationally.

No financial terms were disclosed as part of the deal but Local.com has been growing steadily but I suspect that most of their revenue comes from their own sales force.  There is also no mention of Yahoo.com licensing the Local.com local search patents.  This might be a critical factor with other competitors as Local.com has indicated their desire to enforce their patent ownership.

Nuance Communications has launched a new directory assistant service called Say Hello.  The service allows consumers to get easy access to directory listings via their home or mobile phone.  The service uses speech recognition to match callers with the best business directory available and where speech recognition is possible a human operator will assist the caller.  By providing a high level of automation the Say Hello service is able to provide a good cost savings over human operators and still ensure a good level of service.

The service can also be deployed with audio ads included.  For example the Florida Times-Union newspaper launched the service with 10-15s audio ads included.  The Florida Times-Union newspaper service is free but support by the additional sale of the audio ads.

Nuance Communications plans to roll out the service to over 200 cities across the US by partnering with local directory advertisers.

When the web first started online directories were all the rage and many of the leading directories still exit but are consumers using them.  For example the Yahoo Directory or the Open Directory Project have millions of business listings but are they every used.  Today it seems that most of these directories attract businesses that are more interested in increasing their search engine ranking.  Google for example puts a higher price on links from directories as they show the company to be more reputable.

With the popularity and improvements to search engines it seems unlikely that anyone is using these directories as their structured.  For example Google just launched an update to their own directory based on the Open Directory Project.  The first option on the directory is to search the directory but Google still presents all the different directory categories for people to browse.  Does anyone every browse these categories?  It took me 8 clicks to get to local listings for “Toronto” .    I think most people would prefer to search but what is the advantage of searching the directory vs the default Google search?

A quick search comparing Google.com and Directory.Google.com for Dentists Show in Toronto displayed the following:

The results are similar but I think the Google Search actually provides a better connection with local businesses.  Google includes a map and automatically connects the user to Local Search because I’ve entered “Toronto” as part of my search.  The Directory listings contain no map and no connection to local search.

Most of the successful online business directories, including the Yellow Pages, have adopts a more search oriented approach to business listings and abandoned the directory browsing methodology.  Its not clear to me why search sites like Google see any value in this out of date methodology.

China Telecom has announced that they will separate their directory business from their Telecom unit. The spin off will receive $47M in capital and be run by the head of the China Telecom Shanghai division. No information on ownership structure was disclosed, in fact China Telecom has made no official announcement on the spin off. A variety of mainstream Chinese media are covering the spin off so its expected to be reliable.
The spin off news follows a partnership earlier this year with Google to sell advertising on the directory sites and with Microsoft to provide search functionality for the sites. A a minimum China Telecom appears to be setting up the directory business to grow independently of its Telecom service group. The Telecom service grow is starting to slow but the Business Directory business should be in a good position to grow, especially with partnerships with Google and Microsoft.

LiveDeal.com ( previously YP Corp ) has launched a rating service for its online business listings. LiveDeal.com currently has over 13.5M local business listings which can now be ranked by users. Its not clear at this point if the online ratings will be included in the printed directories.

The “Rate This Store” feature is very easy to use can allows consumers to rank users between 1-5 and include a personal comment about their experience with the vendor. Ratings have become extremely popular with consumers of the last few years but are still a source of abuse between vendors. For example there is very little to prevent competitive vendors from rating their competition negatively and soliciting aid from friends/family. This sort of abuse can be very detrimental to the advertising experience and its often very difficult to detect.

PressMediaWire.com, a leading provider of business press releases, blogs and event promotion has launched a business directory service.  The service is currently accepting business listings and waiving the initial listing fee.  Basic business listings are free and must meet the following criteria:

• Must be an English language website or English translation available.
• Must be well designed and maintained. Sites with broken links and missing images will not qualify.
• Sites must have their own domain.
• Titles and descriptions can only have capital letters only at the beginning of the words. TOP LEVEL CATEGORIES REQUIRE FEATURED LISTINGS. We reserve the right to move non-featured listings where we deem appropriate.
• Symbols and numbers are not accepted at the beginning of the title unless your URL starts with a number.
• Submit only top-level domains. Do not submit individual pages of the website or sub-domains.
• Submit to only one category.
• Spamming is not tolerated and will result in your site being banned from our directory.
• Sites with only banners and or excessive pop ups/under will not be accepted.
• Your site includes any type of pornographic materials, hate materials, adult materials, racial materials, or unlawful practice.

Premium listings are also available for $19.95/month and include priority listing in display and a basic PR package. By combining the directory listing with basic PR services PressmediaWire.com is providing an excellent service to differentiate themselves from more traditional directory advertising providers.  

Finditt.com is offering free directory listings for Sushi and Japanese restaurants its directory/search engine. In Canada the Yellowpages Group has repeatedly indicated that the Sushi category is a high use, high value category for consumers. For many directories the restaurant listings are sold at a discount to encourage a high level of content for the consumer to use while other less frequent categories carry a higher advertising rate. It would appear that Finditt.com is using the Sushi category to build usage for its website usage.

YP Corporation  has announced share holder approval for a named change and a reverse stock split.   YP Corporation, one of the leading provides of classified and directory advertising in the US, will now be known as LiveDeal, Inc.  YP Corporation purchased LiveDeal in Jun, 2007 for a report $12M USD.

No details were provided on the timing for the reverse stock split but this is rarely a good sign for investors.  In most cases it signifies a long term downward trend for the share holders.