Call vs. click.

Mere days after announcing its $5 million first round of funding, local-search company Jambo jumped into a deal with search engine InfoSpace Inc. Terms were not disclosed, but Jambo will be providing its "pay-per-call" technology throughout InfoSpace's search engine.

Jambo gives merchants who don't have a Web site an online presence. As an example, if someone searches for those products, the company's contact information pops up--including a special phone number found only on the Web. Jambo doesn't charge companies to be included in its search results, but it does charge every time someone calls them using that number.

"We are able to determine where people are searching for local services--which region, which type of service," said Jambo Chief Executive John Melideo.

Clicks are a tricky business in the search world, and companies are on an eternal quest to turn clicks into customers. Jambo works on the theory that customers who call a merchant are more likely to convert into a sale.

"Today when a call is generated, the merchant is not aware of where those calls came from. We have the ability to identify that," Melideo said.

Jambo was founded three years ago by NetZero Inc. founders Ronald Burr, Stacy Haitsuka and Chris Black.

Staff reporter Hilary Potkewitz can be reached at [phone], ext. 226, or by e-mail at hpotkewitz@labusihess journal.com.