White Directory Upgrades Web Presence

White Directory Publishers was an early online innovator among U.S. independent directory publishers. In recent years the company has been relatively quiet on the digital front as it focused more on expanding its print footprint. Given the progression in the marketplace, not just among search engines and major IYPs like Superpages and Yellowpages.com, but also among other independents like Yellow Book and Ambassador, White was due for an IYP upgrade. The publisher recently launched a new IYP platform that attempts to narrow the gap.

The new site adds national directory content, map-based search, a partnership with Local.com to drive more traffic, and a new product set that includes “pan and scan” video ads. The publisher says the video ads are compressed well enough to stream efficiently over a dial-up connection, which apparently some people still have. The videos White customers create for their IYP ads are also transferable to their own sites, YouTube and other online video sites. Here is an example.

The evolution of rich media advertising in online directories will be a key topic of discussion at the upcoming Directory Driven Commerce event in Reston, Virginia. For details, visit www.kelseygroup.com/ddc2007.