• by Mark Walsh  @markfwal, August 17, 2006

Online directory WhitePages.com has created specialized sections around buying related to autos, weddings, and moving and home improvement.

The new categories--which provide local business listings, articles and other resources--are intended to give marketers the opportunity to target consumers in connection with major life purchases.

WhitePages chose the three categories based on internal surveys showing that compiling address lists for wedding invitations and searching for local information related to autos and home improvement were among the most popular uses of the site.

Located under the site's tools and utilities page, each of the WhitePages Centers contains relevant information and features. Newly engaged couples can use the new wedding section, for instance, to organize contact information, create mailing labels, and find local businesses tied to wedding planning such as hotels, restaurants and bakeries.

The auto section has directories for auto-related shops and services, while the moving and home improvement site lets consumers create mailing lists for moving announcements and find businesses and neighbors in new surroundings.

Supplying articles for the wedding, auto, and home improvement sections, respectively, are the Knot.com, Edmunds.com, and Doityourself.com.

The new directory sections mark the latest White Pages push to target consumers based on their interests.

Earlier this year, it launched a behavioral targeting product--called In-Marketing Targeting--for its advertisers to reach customers looking for specific business categories in particular geographic regions. "For advertisers, this is a great way for us to continue to target people," said Susie Kang, senior vice president at WhitePages.

Kang said the ad rates for display advertising on the WhitePages Centers would be comparable to those for its behavioral marketing program--a minimum of $12 per 1,000 impressions. The sites also feature paid and unpaid local business listings.

While the In-Market technology is not used within the WhitePages Centers, it can be used to track consumers' activity on the online directory as soon as they leave one of the new guide sections, said Kang.

By November, WhitePages plans to add another category aimed at holiday shoppers, and to maintain between eight and a dozen specialized search areas by year's end.