I'm not too happy with Overture. I just don't like the fact that it takes a few days for them to improve keywords, and I find their entire interface to be very clunky. In addition, there is a $0.10 minimum per click.

I am a heavy AdWords user, and usually pay $0.05 to $0.07 per click. I have conversion tracking setup, and about 10% of those who find DaniWeb via AdWords will register with us.

I have no experience with the Online Yellow Pages. How does it work? Priority listings? I would assume it wouldn't apply to me since I'm not a brick and mortar business.

It is the forth largest referral for some Clients' Online Businesses - after

Google Yahoo MSN and tied with AOL

It is also the fourth most popular source of Sales

Superpages appear to be one of the Most Productive - easy to use interface. Some others also give you your own Web page - this provides an extra LINK to your URL and also manages to get on the Search Engines and inherit some of the PageRank of their Company's Homepage.

Many Business Buyers are Opting for the Digital Yellow Pages - as opposed to the Hard Copy, since they are already AT their computers, and do not want to go Looking for That PhoneBook and Turning all those Pages.

I have found overture to be the best value for money. I also feel more in control.

Eek for overture ... I just don't like the idea of having to wait days before keywords are accepted. Their UI is just sooo slow. And they have a $0.10 minimum as opposed to AdWord's $0.05.

True, but I found that I got more leads from Overture. In my industry you usually have to pay more than the minimum anyway.

Yep, how does online yellow pages work?

all of them are just going to depend on industry and demand.

the nice thing about overture or adwords is that you are not locked into a $500 buy right out of the gate and you can quickly learn from and retest your marketing to make it grow constantly smarter and more effective.

Overture is not good. Bordering on SCAM. I consider them to be a scam but they might be good for some people. They took my $50 and refused my keywords after a ten day wait for approval because my site is an "online product or service". And they took another $50 for my "get local" listing even though my business is a brick and mortar physical building, in a business district (not my house), because I offer an online "product or service".

I would steer clear of them. I was under the mistaken assumption that everything advertised on overture was an "online product or service".
And three attempts to cancel seems to have gone into a black hole as I have heard nothing back from them whatsoever after 20 days.

In short, they take your money, refuse totally relevant keywords after a two week wait, but keep your money and do not reply to cancel requests. And they charge a minimum $20 a month, so in 21/2 months my $50 will be used up. I assume I better change card numbers or they will hit it for another $50 when the balance is used up in the $20 a month minimum.

You are 100% right Dani, it usually does not make sense to pay $.10 per visitor for businesses that generate revenue via advertisements.

However, I've seen higher ROI and conversion rates for e-commerce stores that advertise with Overture versus Adwords for particular campaigns. Keyword prices are usually cheaper, and bidding is slighly less competitive. And don't forget - the Overture network has a huge reach - second only to Adwords.

Online Yellow Pages are following the highly lucrative PPC trend. You do get priority listings if you are the highest bidder on a particular keyword or phrase. They are great for businesses that want more localized traffic than geotracking can offer. PPC via Yellow Pages works great if your goal is to target your particular town/county, etc. Many offer free basic listings, including Verizon Superpages. I don't like that fact that some of the big ones - particularly Verizon Superpages, have highly intrucive PPC ads on top. Learn from Google!

Avi A. Wilensky