StepUp has selected Interchange to power the paid-search advertising channel on their consumer and merchant services local shopping site.
The distribution agreement allows StepUp.com to utilize local and national paid-search advertisers from Interchange’s Advertiser Network to enhance their paid-search advertising channel. Under the terms of the agreement, StepUp.com will feature the sponsored listings of local and national advertisers from Interchange’s Advertiser Network in response to product searches on its site. This also allows StepUp.com to more efficiently monetize their search traffic. In addition, Interchange technology will be used to enhance the overall search experience for consumers searching for local products and services at StepUp.com and other sites by providing access to additional targeted business listings. The implementation is expected to be live within the next 30 days.
“By giving consumers access to retailers’ locations, products and services, and local inventory information we are able to drive incremental shoppers to their online and offline stores,” said Kendall Fargo, StepUp.com president and CEO. “Studies state that nearly half of the shoppers on the Web prefer to actually make their purchases locally. Our technology, coupled with Interchange’s advertising capabilities, addresses this trend. This is a significant step for local-search and the virtual shopping world.”
StepUp.com technology is designed to allow consumers searching for products and services to be able to quickly and easily locate where to purchase specific or hard to find products. StepUp.com provides consumers with local inventory information from the physical location of their local retailers. This allows consumers to submit a search for a product they are looking for and the maximum distance that they want to travel. StepUp.com provides the shopper with retailers within their local area that have the product in stock. For example, StepUp.com helps a customer find out whether a particular stereo is in stock at local electronics stores before driving there.
Going forward, StepUp.com’s primary focus will be to work with Interchange to deliver the joint solution to local content sites including newspaper Web sites and other destination sites to provide an enhanced local shopping experience.
“We believe that this partnership breaks new ground in local-search and expands our reach by allowing us to drive the paid-search channel for shopping, Yellow Pages, newspaper and publishing sites and other local sites throughout the Web,” said Heath Clarke, Interchange CEO. “We are making it easier than ever for consumers to search and shop for products and services online and make their purchases locally.”
Interchange’s Search Distribution Network distributes sponsored listings to a multitude of destination Web sites and search engines, thereby providing advertisers with greater access to online consumers. Interchange displays an advertiser’s URL and a description of their products and services in response to searches conducted on more than 250 partner sites. Interchange’s Search Distribution Network delivered over six billion searches in the most recent quarter. Interchange’s large Advertiser Network provides Search Distribution partners with the ability to reach a broad range of sponsored listings in response to a wider variety of keyword searches and provides them with a lucrative revenue-sharing opportunity.
Murdok | Breaking eBusiness News
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