• by Gavin O'Malley  @mp_gavin, March 28, 2006

Hoping to attract twenty-somethings nationwide, Verizon on Monday announced the addition of several features to its Campus Area Yellow Pages service. Students now have access to local WiFi hotspot finders and RSS news feeds through Verizon SuperPages.com.

The current focus for Verizon and its rivals is to provide consumers with local, targeted information and services. "Local information is what people are looking for today," said Verizon spokeswoman Dana Benton Russell.

Alumni, faculty, and students can access their universities' campus news at Verizon's Campus Area Yellow Pages via RSS feeds. Universities that have launched RSS feeds include Carnegie Mellon University, Dartmouth University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Stanford University.

Verizon launched Campus Area Yellow Pages in 2003 as an online reference showing where to find local businesses near college campuses in all 50 states.

Verizon has been promoting its SuperPages service through significant spending on advertising and industry partnerships.

In January, MSN's local search engine began to include three local search ads, provided by Verizon's SuperPages.com, for every search result. The ads include a mix of pay-per-click, pay-per-call, and fixed-rate pricing; all are sold by Verizon's local sales teams.

And late last year, Verizon spent an estimated $4 million to promote SuperPages' newest features, including reviews, downloadable coupons, a search function, and a downloadable toolbar.