Online advertisers turning to pay-per-call

DALLAS -- Personal-injury lawyer Frank Frasier wants the world to know about his business but didn't think much of the search-based Internet advertising that's all the rage these days. Potential clients wouldn't learn much about him through it, he figured, and he really can't tell if they have a case without speaking with them directly. But Frasier's opinion of Internet search advertising changed recently with the recent arrival of pay-per-call. This technique prompts Web surfers looking for lawyers in his hometown of Tulsa, Okla., to pick up the phone instead of clicking an ad or sending e-mail. "We've gotten about a dozen calls and half turned into cases," Frasier said. "I'm a believer. It fits my needs." Pay-per-call could be especially powerful for local businesses that have ignored the Internet, including those that don't even have a Web site, its advocates say. Most search advertising now takes a pay-per-click approach. Search engines such as Google Inc. auction the right to have a company's ad display alongside regular search results when a computer user types certain keywords, such as "Tulsa lawyers." Advertisers pay each time someone clicks on the ad link. In pay-per-call, keywords also are auctioned. But instead of a link to click, the ad directs the user to the telephone. In one version, the user calls a special number that is forwarded to the advertiser's regular phone. In another, users type in their phone numbers and get a return call from the merchant. Either way, the advertiser is billed for the referral. America Online Inc. and smaller Web portals have partnered with a pay-per-call pioneer called Ingenio Inc., whose investors include eBay Inc. and Microsoft Corp. MORE.....