Google and Verizon do SuperPages deal

Google and Verizon SuperPages.com have signed a deal under which the classified ad provider will help its tens of thousands of marketers get ads onto Google search result pages, the companies said on Monday.

Google said in a statement: "We're pleased Verizon is an authorised AdWords reseller and helping local small businesses take advantage of the opportunities of search advertising."

Verizon SuperPages.com sends sales representatives out to businesses to sell them advertising that will appear in print and online, something Google and other big internet companies don't have the resources to do, Eric Chandler, president of the internet division at Verizon SuperPages.com, said in a keynote at The Kelsey Group Drilling Down on Local conference in California.

The new arrangement "marries our sales channel opportunities with Google's vast advertising network," Chandler said in an interview after the session. "We play a key role in this whole ecosystem. We are the enablers to get this group [small merchants] online."

SuperPages.com already provides business profiles to Google so that some search results include links to more information about particular businesses on SuperPages.com, Chandler said.

Deals like this "are critical to move the local search market forward because these businesses would not go on their own to Google or Yahoo!," said Greg Sterling, managing editor at The Kelsey Group.

Sterling said: "There is a lot of inertia in the small-business market, which relies on sales representatives to call them or visit."

Verizon SuperPages.com powers MSN's yellow pages and provides advertisers for MSN Local and MSN Virtual Earth, Chandler said. "As Microsoft's AdCenter launches this summer, there will be opportunities for us to work with them on a deeper level," he added.

The Google deal also gives Verizon SuperPages.com advertisers access to search results pages on AOL and Ask.com through their deals with Google, he said.

Elinor Mills writes for CNET News.com