Advertiser-pays DA - often called simply "Free DA" - means you make your DA service free of charge to callers and instead generate revenues from advertisers, who place targeted ads in audio and text form within your service. It’s the same principle used in television, radio and on many Web sites.

Primarily because of the recent success of companies like Jingle Networks in the US. The company’s service, 1 800 Free411, was handling 20 million calls per month at last glance - an unexpectedly strong result after only a few short years of operation. Other companies have since followed their lead, including AT&T with its 1 800 Yellow Pages service, which is now available across all 50 states in the US.

Essentially, DA service providers sell space within their call flow to advertisers, who can position their ads at the beginning or end of the call flow, within business categories or according to location, in connection with their own listing – or even in relation to competitors’ listings.

Advertisers can be billed in two instances: 1) when their ad is played and 2) when their ad is selected and you put the caller through to their business, effectively generating a lead for them.

As a general rule, the more specifically an ad can be targeted, the higher the price you can charge for it. A “banner” ad played at the beginning of every call (and thus not necessarily related to what the caller is searching for) might cost the advertiser 5 cents a play, whereas an ad played in the caller’s requested category or an ad competing with a listing that’s already been selected might cost the advertiser 25 cents per play.

Putting a caller through to a company that has advertised is in effect generating a qualified lead for that business. Significantly higher prices can be charged for such leads, usually ranging from a few Euros to double figures for a lawyer, doctor or similar.

If you are obligated to handle residential inquiries (not all providers are), such listings are also free of charge, but callers will usually have to listen to an advertisement upon calling the service and leaving it. It’s worth noting that in most DA call centres, business inquiries make up around 80 percent of call volume.

There is no right or wrong way. It may make sense to start by addressing mobile users, i.e. sending them SMS/WAP advertising or coupons along with their listings. This has the advantage of adding a new revenue stream without fundamentally altering your business model in the early stages.

Another option is to keep risk and effort manageable by launching an ad-pays service in a single metropolitan area. This is the approach that 1 800 San Diego has taken in the US, and they’ve been profitable with it.

Yet another strategy is to simply do as Jingle Networks did and go nationwide immediately. The advantages are that you’ll be able to make a big marketing splash, gain market share fast and establish your brand quickly.

Start by looking nearby. If you’re a mobile DA provider that offers portal services, that portal will probably be stocked with quite a bit of advertising content already. If you’re a directory publisher with a wealth of advertising content already, ad-pays DA is simply another channel to get those ads to consumers.

Directory assistance service providers can work together with ad agencies, sell ads themselves via their own or an external sales force, or – for many a viable option – working in partnership with the sales force of an allied yellow pages publisher.

One thing to remember is that, perhaps more than any other advertising medium, ad-pays allows companies to address consumers at the moment they are actually reaching out to make contact with businesses. And because directory assistance ads are tied to exact business categories, time of day and week, the locality of the caller and other variables, they are nearly always directly relevant to the caller's decision. In addition, ad uptake by consumers can be tracked with far greater precision than in other media.

While the US market is unique with its economies of scale and the degree to which automation is accepted, the price awareness that drove US consumers to free DA is present in many if not most DA markets around the world. On top of that, automation isn’t necessarily a prerequisite – the first successful US free DA service, 1 800 San Diego, didn’t use automation at all. The mobile advertising market is also further along in many countries outside the US, providing an easier foothold for ad-pays and a lucrative long-term source of revenue.

Typically, you will need an advertising management platform, a call centre environment and a messaging platform for serving mobile requests. A speech automation system can help keep costs down, but isn’t strictly speaking a requirement. Later on, depending on how you approach advert acquisition, some back office functionality for managing a sales force, CRM and invoicing and billing will probably become necessary.

Yes. We offer a complete solution enabling our customers to introduce or transition to an advertiser-pays service. More information can be found here:

Volt Delta International also offers a complete mobile advertising solution allowing providers to send callers contextually relevant links and advertising in a number of formats, as well as to upload and intuitively manage advertising content. As mentioned, mobile advertising can be added on to an existing user-pays DA services as well. More information can be found here.