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YAHOO! ANNOUNCES FREE BUSINESS WEB
SITES
New Service Allows Small Businesses to Connect with Consumers
Online
Yahoo! Inc. (Nasdaq:YHOO - News), a leading global Internet
company, today announced a new feature on Yahoo! Local that
provides free Web sites for small businesses. This free and easy-to-use
feature builds upon Yahoo!'s leadership position as the number
one online destination for local information and small business
services. Small businesses can quickly and easily establish an
online presence and connect with the increasing number of
consumers using the Internet to find comprehensive local products
and services. The service is available in beta at http://local.yahoo.com/freesite.
"As more and more consumers rely on the Internet for
information about their neighborhood from finding
restaurants to plumbers to dry cleaners local businesses
are realizing the value of reaching potential customers online,"
said Paul Levine, general manager, Yahoo! Local. "By
providing small businesses with free Web sites, we are not only
helping them leverage the Internet, but also adding depth and
comprehensiveness to our local product for consumers."
According to The Kelsey Group, over 50 percent of the more than
20 million small businesses in the U.S. do not yet have a Web
site. With the launch of this new service, Yahoo! now enables
these businesses to establish an online presence by providing a
simple interface and template that allows them to create a site
in minutes. These new Web sites are automatically integrated into
Yahoo! Local, extending businesses' reach to consumers who use
search engines to find information about local products and
services.
The free service complements other innovative merchant offerings
in Yahoo! Local, including Free Basic Listings and Enhanced
Listings. These tools give merchants the power to add and edit
content about their business on Yahoo! Local. A small business
may extend its Internet presence over time as their online needs
grow with award winning services from Yahoo! Small Business such
as: domain name, e-mail, enhanced Web hosting and e-commerce
solutions.
"By bringing together our leadership in essential small
business services, our vast consumer reach, and our local and
search expertise, Yahoo! is uniquely able to help small
businesses get started and be successful online," said Rich
Riley, vice president and general manager, Yahoo! Small Business.
"This new service complements our industry leading suite of
online services that help small businesses get online, sell
online and market online."
About Yahoo!
Yahoo! Inc. is the No. 1 Internet brand globally and the most
trafficked Internet destination worldwide. Yahoo! provides online
products and services essential to consumers' lives, and offers a
full range of tools and marketing solutions for businesses to
connect with Internet users around the world. Yahoo! is
headquartered in Sunnyvale, Calif.
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