Yahoo! Search Marketing makes major investment in the Australian small business community

Yahoo! Search Marketing, a leader in Internet search engine advertising, has today announced it will invest up to $24 million in the advertising activities of Australian small businesses through the BIG BANG initiative, which will provide small businesses with a completely free search engine advertising campaign for three months¹. In the first phase of this ongoing initiative Yahoo! Search Marketing will be providing 160,000 small businesses with information about this offer in the mail, followed up with a consultative phone call by a Yahoo! certified local specialist.                      

The BIG BANG initiative will offer significant support to small businesses which Yahoo! Search Marketing believes will provide a much needed boost in the current economic climate.  With up to 1.1 billion searches made on the Yahoo! Search Marketing network each month², this initiative will give small businesses more exposure, accountability and measurable results.                  

This offer allows small businesses to trial search engine advertising for free.1  A Yahoo! certified local specialist will set up and manage each campaign at no cost, making the campaign simple and easy to execute for any small business.  The BIG BANG initiative will deliver small business ad listings through Yahoo! Search Marketing’s partner networks, including some of Australia’s leading websites, including Yahoo!7 and ninemsn.   

Willie Pang, Managing Director of Yahoo! Search Marketing says, “This is the first step in the ongoing investment Yahoo! Search Marketing will be making in the Australian small business community.  Ultimately, we want to help small businesses better connect with consumers searching for their products and services online. The BIG BANG initiative is taking the pain out of online advertising, as a Yahoo! certified local specialist will be fully managing each small business campaign at no cost. Search engine advertising will provide a bigger bang for their buck than traditional forms of advertising like print directories and local mail drops.”

“The main objective of the BIG BANG initiative is to educate and help small businesses to fully understand that search engine advertising is a compelling alternative that will make a positive impact on their bottom line.  The beauty is you don’t need an expensive or flashy website to succeed as it is all about driving customers to call and walk through the door,” adds Pang.

Rohan Lund, Chief Executive Officer of Yahoo!7 says, “More and more Australians are looking to the internet for information, entertainment and getting things done.  By advertising online, on sites such as Yahoo!7, Australian small businesses potentially have access to a growing, engaged audience – whether they live around the corner or across the country.” 

For more information on the BIG BANG initiative and the full terms and conditions, please go to bigbang.yahoo.com.au    

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Notes to Editor

¹ Offer must be accepted by 31 July 2009. Small businesses will receive Yahoo! Search Marketing services at no charge for a period of 3 months or up to a maximum value of $150, whichever occurs first. Existing Yahoo! Search Marketing advertisers (including advertisers through Yahoo! Search Marketing resellers) are not eligible to participate in the Offer.

² Stats Purple, Yahoo! Search Marketing internal tool. Average monthly figure based on searches, consisting of Sponsored Search and Content Match products, from Oct. 2008 to Feb. 2009

³ In 2007-08, 67% of Australian households had home Internet access and 75% of households had access to a computer. www.abs.gov.au/