Superpages Launches Video Beta

Idearc’s Superpages has launched a beta version of a video advertising product, the company announced today. Here is a copy of the announcement. Video has quickly emerged as an essential element for a fully functional local online product, even if uptake among SMEs is small at this stage.

From the press release:

“There is a clear trend in advertising as more consumers are willing to engage with videos online,” said Eric Chandler, President – Internet for Idearc Media. “Superpages video advertising allows small to medium-sized local businesses the opportunity to tell their unique story in a new medium. These ‘documercials’ also let consumers take an up-close and personal look at a business before making a buying decision.”

Superpages.com is trialing 30- and 60-second local merchant video advertising in the Seattle, Los Angeles, and San Francisco Bay areas, with additional cities to be added in the next few months. Local video advertising is full-service and turn-key for local advertisers, with the videos filmed by professional crews on the customers’ premises.

We see online video as one of those items that translates well for Yellow Pages sales reps selling to those who are versed in the value of media other than Yelllow Pages (local cable TV, for example), as well as those with a touch of vanity. No sales rep will deny the power of vanity, at least among a segment of advertisers. It’s also an opportunity for smaller advertisers to get into video for the first time.

And there is evidence users dig online video. TKG’s own research (U.S.) found that 59 percent of users have viewed a video ad online. Of those who viewed an ad, 15 percent made a purchase.

Click on the image below to see a video example from Superpages.com.

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TKG will cover the advent of video in the Yellow Pages/local search arena in a session titled, “The Evolution of 3-D, Video and Audio — The Future of Rich Media and Yellow Pages,” at the upcoming Directory Driven Commerce 2007 event in Reston, Virginia.

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