October 10, 2006
Internet, October 10, 2006. Online context advertising is now available even to those who do not have websites. Yandex.Direct advertisers now have an option to specify their contact information. These customers get an automatically created “virtual business card”, and their ads will have a link “Address and phone number”.
Payment for clicks through to virtual business cards is the same as for clicks to advertisers’ sites. The new option is also available to advertisers that do have their own web pages: their ads can feature one or both links.
“By providing contact information linked to ads, even companies that are not yet present online can appreciate the benefits of paid search advertising,” claims Eugene Lomize, Head of Yandex Advertising Technologies Department. “On the other hand, companies that already have their sites get an additional means of communication with potential customers. Some people prefer to study offers shown on websites, others would rather just call and find out the details. Advertisers can now use both channels to reach their clients.”
The use of both communication channels together does not entail an increase in advertising expenses: if a user decides to go to the site after seeing the business card (or vice versa), it will be counted as one referral. The minimum price per click at Yandex.Direct is RUB 0.30.
The latest features of Yandex.Direct aim to attract “offline” businesses to content advertising. With an option to provide contact information, in addition to automated Direct tools (Autofocus, Autobudget, time of day targeting, etc.), even businesses with no permanent web presence get an opportunity to do efficient online advertising.
Yandex.Direct is the first and largest context ad placement system in the Russian Internet. Advertisements are displayed on search result pages and Yandex Advertising Network participant sites. The monthly turnover of Yandex.Direct has exceeded $5 million and is continuously growing.
