Ingenio Forges Deal With SMS Local Search Firm

Pay-per-call firm Ingenio today is expected to announce a partnership with UpSnap, an SMS-based free 411 service, to serve text pay-per-call ads to mobile phone users.

This is the second free 411 service into which Ingenio has integrated pay-per-call ads. The first was Jingle's 1-800-Free-411 service, which inserts audio pay-per-call ads before the listing. Mark Barach, Ingenio's chief marketing officer, said the company has been seeing increased consumer interest in the space, and is pursuing more partnerships.

While pay-per-call originated online, he said, the service is spreading beyond desktops. "We're finding there are some powerful consumer trends around new forms of getting information like mobile and free 411, and that's where we're integrating our messages more and more," he said.

The text ads will be displayed when a user searches for a local business using the SMS 411 service, and if the user wishes, he can highlight and click the number to automatically call. When the call is made, the advertiser is billed for the ad.

Barach said Ingenio will be announcing two additional free 411 companies in the coming months, and the deal with UpSnap will go live by the end of this quarter.

In addition to free 411 services, Ingenio also has placed pay-per-call ads on mobile phones through AOL's mobile local search and Go2, a mobile Yellow Pages service.

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