Advertisers are Spending 70% More on Web Site Banners Than Necessary to Reach the Buying Public.

Business/Marketing/Internet Editors

NEWPORT BEACH, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 27, 2000

National advertisers seeking to reach the buying public with banner ads placed on the Internet are wasting some 70 percent of their budgets by placing their messages on Web sites where they are only passively viewed.

So said Dennis D'Alessio, chairman and chief executive officer of SBN.com. Those advertisers would be better served, and achieve considerably higher returns, he said, by narrowing their focus to the Web surfers that are online for the specific purpose of locating and buying products. For that, he said, they go to the Online Yellow Pages such as the directory published by SBN.com.

&uot;We came to that realization when we discovered our 'click-through' rate (the rate at which Web surfers click on an ad to get more information) is about 1.5 percent -- nearly 5 times higher than the industry average of 0.32 percent.&uot;

&uot;The discovery was a surprise even to us,&uot; he said, &uot;but it shouldn't have been when you consider that people coming to the Online Yellow Pages -- ours or any others -- are coming with one purpose in mind, and that is to buy something; they're not just looking for information. This is in contrast to the casual notice advertising banners receive on 'non-selling' Web sites.&uot;

Another dynamic favoring ads placed in the Online Yellow Pages, D'Alessio added, is the fact that people looking to buy actually tend to focus on advertisers for their purchases, as opposed to mere &uot;listers.&uot;

&uot;Plain and simple,&uot; he said, &uot;people 'want' to see advertising in the Yellow Pages, while anywhere else they tend to be a distraction.&uot;

SBN.com reports that interest in Internet Yellow Pages directories is expanding daily and is expected to spiral as more and more people become aware of their convenience, and as a result of recent restrictions and costs imposed on 411 information calls by telephone companies across the nation.

In addition to the 1 1/2-million page Online Yellow Pages, the SBN.com Web site is also host to the Internet's first classified, Business-to-Business directory, a national toll-free directory, an international directory and a &uot;Cyber Directory&uot; of the top Web sites on the Internet. The SBN site is also host to a number of specialty directories and a network of online shopping sites.

&uot;All of these, where advertising is concerned, are directed toward 'targeted' marketing -- by product category and geographically

-- and to getting the biggest bang for the buck,&uot; D'Alessio stated.