Looksmart in Deal with Legal Publisher

Australian Web directory company Looksmart this week announced an alliance with legal publisher Butterworths Online under which Looksmart will provide a directory database for Butterworth’s online service.

Under the partnership, the home page of Butterworth’s subscription based service will now feature category specific search tools from Looksmart.

The co-branded pages will be divided into ‘Australian’ sites and ‘World” sites enabling users to browse locally if they choose.

“The company has been offering legal practitioners advanced online legal services for over two years, however, this strategic alliance will enable Butterworths to guarantee practitioners even greater online productivity through customised search solutions,” said Evan Predavec, director for marketing and electronic development with Butterworths Online.

Butterworth’s was reportedly the first commercial legal service available online in Australia when the site was launched back in March 1997. It currently offers 150 databases of legal information.

In related news, Looksmart has also announced the launch of its Internet service provider program, which allows local ISPs to access Looksmart’s Web directory content.

To date, 25 ISPs have joined the program as foundation partners. These include Primus, Power Up, iinet, iHug, Hunterlink and Hotlinks.

“The ISP program allows users of leading ISPs to access content, while maintaining the look and feel of their ISP,” said Tim Pethick, Looksmart’s Australian CEO.

The Australian launch follows the successful roll-out of the network in the US, where more than 250 ISPs have already joined the program.