Newspaper & Mailroom
The Dallas Morning News Selects Local.com to Power Local Online Service Directory
Wednesday 24. June 2009 - Local.com Corporation (NASDAQ: LOCM), a leading local search site and network, and The Dallas Morning News, the flagship subsidiary of A. H. Belo Corporation (NYSE: AHC), today announced a partnership to power local search on top-rated local news site www.dallasnews.com with Local Connect, Local.coms private label local search solution.
The recently launched free service directory (www.directory.dallasnews.com) includes a robust line-up of more than 250,000 local businesses in the Dallas/Fort Worth MSA in a variety of categories such as auto, professional and home services, entertainment and dining, and it will feature consumer reviews.
Local.com provides an effective and affordable boost to advertisers, offering more online advertising opportunities and sponsored search results than many search engines. For instance, businesses can increase their brand presence with videos in their ads, they can add photos of products and even provide a link to their Better Business Bureau (BBB) standing.
“Powered by Local.com, our service directory will connect consumers to the right businesses for the job,” said Fran Wills, senior vice president for interactive and marketing. “At the same time, it will create opportunities for small and medium-size businesses to reach customers effectively and affordably.”
“We were excited to be selected by The Dallas Morning News after a long and careful selection process,” said Malcolm Lewis, senior vice president and general manager, private label, Local.com. “We look forward to driving significant incremental traffic and online advertising revenues for our new partner.”
According to industry consultant The Kelsey Group, 61 million local searches are conducted online every day. Local.coms Local Connect private label platform allows qualified regional media publishers to add a local search business directory to their websites within a few days and at no cost. Once deployed, Local Connects unique SEO-friendly architecture can quickly drive new traffic and new online advertising revenues through local search. According to The Kelsey Group, Local.com has the largest network of independent, private label local media properties in the U.S. based on the number of partner sites.