GTE Buys Bigbook.com Domain

GTE New Media Services Inc. said it purchased the www.bigbook.com domain and rights to all BigBook trade names and trade marks. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

GTE New Media Service operates GTE’s SuperPages interactive directory service.

Patrick Marshall, vice president for new media services at GTE Directories Corp., said that the acquisition will increase GTE’s presence in the highly competitive online directory business, while also giving BigBook’s customers and users the benefits of a full-service electronic commerce site through GTE’s SuperPages service.

“As the first independent, online national yellow pages service, BigBook has strong name recognition and very loyal users,” Marshall said. “GTE’s SuperPages service has earned a reputation as an interactive services powerhouse with proven sales, marketing and content development expertise. As a result, BigBook users and advertisers will have access to a wider range of opportunities and services than they ever had before. At the same time, this acquisition will further solidify SuperPages’ presence.”

BigBook users will still be able to access the BigBook site, but now they will find additional features and services such as advanced and reverse yellow pages search capabilities, city guides, a Consumer Guide area, and electronic commerce capabilities with GTE’s Shop Online service.

As part of the deal, GTE said it will provide current BigBook advertisers with a Fact File advertisement on its SuperPages service, which claimed more than 4.75 million visitors in January.

BigBook Direct, headquartered in San Francisco, is a network marketing company focused on technology and Internet-related products and services.