Earlier this summer Google gave an indication this was coming. Now Google is rolling out what it's calling "bid for calls," a pay per call (PPCall) offering on the PC. This is distinct from Click to Call, its successful mobile PPCall product. The program will launch in the US and UK at first and relies on the Call Metrics (Google Voice) infrastructure. AdWords advertisers must use Call Metrics and a Google Voice-generated call tracking number to participate. But rather than just paying $1 per completed call for call tracking, advertisers can now separately bid on calls. In the near f [...]

Related Topics: Features: General | Google: AdWords | Google: Outside US | Search Ads: Pay Per Call | Top News

Marchex announced this morning that it was buying Jingle Networks, operator of free directory assistance service 800-Free-411, for $62 million in cash and stock. Founded in 2004, Jingle Networks also has a pay-per-call mobile ad network. Jingle's 800-Free-411 competed with GOOG-411, which was closed down last year, and Microsoft's Bing-411, which is still operating. However Jingle was the leader in the "free directory assistance" segment. At one point I called free-DA "local-mobile search for the rest of us." That was before the dramatic growth of smartphones, which have continued to ero [...]

Related Topics: Microsoft: Bing 411 | Search Ads: Pay Per Call | Search Engines: Maps & Local Search Engines | Search Marketing: Local Search Marketing | SEM Industry: Acquisitions

Local advertising provider Yext has spearheaded the launch of a Google-like "tags" product that receives distribution across a vast array of local sites including Yelp, Yahoo, Mapquest, Superpages, Topix, Patch, Citysearch and others. It's being characterized as an "anti-Google alliance." That's not exactly correct. As a practical matter it gives advertisers a way to run promotions across what is in effect a new local ad network, which in the aggregate constitutes a massive number of search queries and impressions. The program is the brainchild of Howard Lerman, Yext's CEO. In the wake of G [...]

Related Topics: 1 | Google: Maps & Local | Groupon | Search Ads: Pay Per Call | Top News

Quick: Are you a digital marketing pro? If so, complete this sentence: In the future, advertisers will combine online media with mobile ads to drive:____________. What did you put in the blank? Let me guess. Branding, combining rich online experiences with mobile mini-experiences? E-commerce, as more people surf the Web using both devices? Coupons and promotions, taking advantage of the new, mobile media? Let me try a radical idea out on you: In the future, advertisers will combine online media with mobile ads to drive... wait for it... Phone calls! Here’s [...]

Related Topics: Local Search | Search Ads: Pay Per Call

Although it's been around for years, pay-per-call advertising may be finally hitting its stride. Greg Sterling, a Contributing Editor at Search Engine Land, recently wrote: We've long known that calls are much more valuable than clicks to small businesses in particular, but also to many larger entities with call-center sales operations. However... it's taken PPCall much longer to get going than I originally anticipated. Sterling sees pay-per-call growth in traditional media and mobile. He also notes that pay-per-call programs are now increasingly being used in print Yellow Page dir [...]

Related Topics: How To: SEM | Search Ads: Pay Per Call