TurnHere Lands Superpages.com Video Ad Account

TurnHere has inked a video production deal with Idearc Media, signing on as the online video resource for Superpages.com.

Idearc made video ads nationally available to its client base of more than 18 million local businesses in late October, and will leverage Emeryville, Calif.-based TurnHere's technology and network of producers to bring the offering to scale.

Pricing includes a one-time production fee of under $1,000 for a 30-second spot, in addition to a monthly fee to have the video icon placed within the business listing. An Idearc spokesperson notes that customers could purchase the rights to use the video elsewhere for an additional charge.

The move comes as nearly every one of the major Internet Yellow Pages (IYP) providers (including AT&T's Yellowpages.com and Yellowbook.com), destination search sites like Citysearch and search/classifieds hybrids like LiveDeal have flirted with, beta launched, or fully rolled out video ads.

According to Greg Sterling, senior analyst for Opus Research's Local Mobile Search, the widespread adoption of online video has hit the IYP and local search space as well, and soon it will be mandatory for providers to offer video ads to stay competitive.

"Initially it's important from the consumer side, since they're the ones who are driving the demand," Sterling says. "But IYPs will need to offer video ads from a revenue standpoint because advertisers will also begin to push for it." Sterling added that the videos also increase local businesses' visibility with the search engines via blended or Universal Search.

As per Idearc Media's President Eric Chandler, TurnHere's authentic video style, national network of talented video producers and scaleable production process is what made the company Idearc's partner of choice. "Small- to medium-sized businesses that have not been able to afford broadcast advertising can now--very affordably--use online video advertising to showcase their products, brands, services and specialties," Chandler says.

TurnHere also powers video for IAC/InterActiveCorp's Citysearch--among other major online publishers, but according to John McWeeny, the company's senior vice president of business development, TurnHere's platform and the integrity of the producers mitigates any concerns about cookie-cutter videos or ad uniqueness.

"We have a lot of experience making small merchant Web video feasible and scalable, but they're not off the shelf ads," McWeeny says. "We can provide a different kind of look and feel for each customer and each search provider."

Next story loading loading..