Overture Draws Web Sites into Local Listings

Yahoo’s Overture has modified its local business listings, part of its Local Match program, to let advertisers highlight their Web sites.

The new business listings pages have a tabbed structure with the initial page divided into two frames. The top part of the frame provides the advertiser’s name, address, email address, phone number, company description and a map. The bottom frame is the home page of the advertiser’s Web site, or a default landing page for the listing.

The second tab, labeled “business information” provides a business’ operating hours and the forms of payments it accepts. That information also appears in the top frame of the business listing.

“Advertisers liked the geo-targeting option and the simplicity. They wanted to present their Web site in same click event,” Geoff Stevens, Overture’s general manager, local, told ClickZ.

While local business listings were partially designed to serve the needs of smaller businesses that might not have a Web presence, Overture said its advertisers who did have Web pages wanted to have them displayed more prominently.

The redesigned business listings pages are already appearing across the U.S. Advertisers don’t pay any extra fee beyond their pay-per-click costs to get the new homepage or landing page link and display.

Yahoo recently launched Enhanced Local listings, which costs advertisers $9.95 monthly. That lets them include additional content in their search listing, including links to their site, a company logo, a tag line, and up to 10 photos.