Dallas-based Verizon Information Services scored a deal with AltaVista Thursday when
the search site agreed to make the telecommunications company’s
SuperPages.com the exclusive provider of white and Yellow Pages services for
AltaVista, effectively replacing WorldPages.com.
SuperPages.com now is powering AltaVista’s online Yellow Pages and
People Finder service. The People Finder allows AltaVista users to search for
people nationwide by entering their names or telephone numbers.
Financial arrangements were not disclosed for the deal, which AltaVista spokesman David Emanuel told InternetNews.com was a complete replacement for WorldPages.com, recently merged with TransWestern
Publishing.
“By increasing our usage and reach, we are increasing the potential value for
SuperPages.com advertisers,” said Patrick Marshall, group vice president, marketing for Verizon Information Services.
AltaVista users of the Yellow Pages and People Finder also will be able to
save and update business and people listings using the SuperPages.com’s My
Directory service, allowing frequently used numbers to be readily accessible.
With this latest alliance, Verizon said, SuperPages.com now provides Yellow
Pages services to seven of the top 15 Internet sites as ranked by Media
Metrix in May 2001.
“Because Verizon supplements the SuperPages.com database with updated
telephone listings, business information and advertiser content, our users
have access to the most current and accurate information available,” said
Gannon Giguiere, senior director, global product marketing for AltaVista.
Palo Alto, Calif.-based AltaVista, a CMGI company, says it performs more than
50 million Web search queries on average per day. Verizon Information
Services is a unit of Verizon Communications Inc.