The service will allow advertisers to display a partial telephone contact alongside the offer in the search results page, and users can click on the link to view a landing page with the phone number. They can then click through to the merchant's website or return to the search results.
Advertisers will be charged a fixed pay-per-call rate for calls made. The service has already been introduced at the start of August on Kelkoo, owned by Yahoo!. It mirrors a service launched by Miva (formerly FindWhat and Espotting) in the US, which is due for launch in the UK in the autumn. Seb Bishop, chief marketing officer of Miva, has said that he expects pay-per-call services to be "potentially bigger than pay per click".
Glen Drury, vice-president of business operations for Yahoo! shopping, cars and travel in Europe, said: "By introducing a pay-per-call system, Yahoo! UK & Ireland will offer buyers more choice in how and when they make a purchase and give e-commerce advertisers more options in how they communicate with customers."
He continued: "It is well known that a number of customers research products online and then purchase over the phone or in store. Yahoo!'s pay-per-call service is designed to make the influence of the internet in driving sales through multiple channels more transparent."
The service follows findings in the EIAA Media Consumption study 2004 which shows that 40% of users research travel tickets and holidays online, but then buy through traditional means. And a third of consumers said they had looked at books and theatre or cinema tickets on the web but bought elsewhere.
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