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May 2005
London -- May 3 , 2005 -- Thomson Directories Ltd., one of the UK's leading directory companies, and Google Inc. (Nasdaq: GOOG), developer of the award-winning Google® search engine, today announced an agreement whereby Thomson Directories will become the first European directory publisher authorised to sell advertising through Google AdWords® to small and medium-sized local businesses in the UK.
Under the multi-year agreement, Thomson Directories will include Google AdWords as an integral part of its ThomsonLocal.com and WebFinder.com online advertising products, an online directory and search engine marketing service designed for small and medium-sized local businesses. By aligning with the 500 strong Thomson Directories sales force, Google can now reach more small and medium-sized local businesses across the UK with Google AdWords.
With AdWords, Google's performance-based search advertising programme, advertisers can show targeted text advertisements to potential customers at the precise moment they are looking for information related to the products and services the advertiser offers. Google currently provides advertisers with the ability to reach customers in local markets through a variety of targeting options including regional and city level, as well as through an address-based radius feature or by specifying latitude and longitude points.
Google AdWords enables Thomson Directories advertisers who choose to participate in the programme to generate leads across the Google Network, which reaches more than 75 percent of UK Internet users (source: Nielsen//NetRatings, February 2005) through sites such as Google.co.uk, AOL, Ask Jeeves, NTL and Virgin.net.
"Helping our advertisers grow their businesses is at the core of Thomson Directories and ThomsonLocal.com's success," said Laurence O'Toole, Business Information and New Media Director of Thomson Directories. "We believe this partnership will allow our customers to take advantage of the extensive reach of the Google Network, which will aid them in attracting more targeted leads”.
"Our relationship with Thomson Directories enables Google to provide more advertisers in the U.K. with access to Google AdWords, while building on our goal of connecting users with relevant local information” said Kate Burns, MD of UK Advertising Sales. "Through this partnership, Google can also leverage an established and experienced sales force to reach small and medium-sized local businesses across the country.”
With a new and comprehensive range of online advertising from Thomson Directories, advertisers can reach potential customers when consumers are actively looking for information about products and services online. Thomson Directories offers a full-service solution that sends targeted visitors from search engines directly to a customer's website, or to a specially created information page on ThomsonLocal.com for businesses without a web presence.
O'Toole said by managing the local search solution for advertisers, Thomson Directories is saving its customers time and money and allowing them to benefit from online directories and search engine marketing while maintaining focus on their day-to-day business operations.
"The phenomenal growth of local search, combined with Thomson Directories lead generating products incorporating Google's AdWords, positions Thomson Directories as a primary partner for our online advertisers," O'Toole said.
Businesses interested in more information on Thomson Directories range of online advertising products can visit www.thomsondirectories.com.
For further information please contact our press office.
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