Local.com and Idearc Media Corp. today announced a distribution agreement that allows Idearc to place its Superpages.com advertisers’ content on Local.com. Superpages.com’s advertisers will receive priority placement in the “Featured Sponsors” section of the Local.com Web site.
So, if your business advertises via SuperPages.com, your ads will also appear on Local.com.
Local.com recently also completed an $8 million financing with Hearst Interactive Media, a division of Hearst Corporation, and Greenway Capital. Hearst Interactive Media also has strategic investments in Sphere, Pandora, iVillage and Netscape.
With such financing behind them and this advertising distribution deal with SuperPages.com, Local.com just may have the backing to jump their hurdle of 2nd tier local search engine to a major competitor of Google Local, Yahoo Local and other major local search sites, and they should now be less dependent on annoying animated display advertising which has been littering their search results for almost a year.
Heath Clarke, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman, Local.com, adds “This expanded agreement allows us to increase monetization of our site. Additionally, Idearc Media’s large base of Superpages.com’s local advertisers will enable Local.com users to find even more highly relevant local businesses to connect with and purchase from.”
In 2006, Local.com received over 100 million unique monthly visitors, and delivered hundreds of millions of search results. Local.com’s search results include national, regional and local advertisers and traditional business listings. Published reports suggest that up to 30 percent of all Internet searches are local in nature. comScore reports that the number of Internet searches continues to increase annually which points to a strong future for the local search industry. Featured Sponsors on Local.com typically include highly relevant information about businesses including hours of operation, discounts and special offers.
