These online ads rely on telephones Pay-per-call is finding its niche
By Associated Press | September 5, 2005
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. 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.
But Frasier's opinion of Internet search advertising changed with the recent arrival of pay-per-call, which 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."
Pay-per-call could be especially powerful for businesses that ignored the Internet, advocates say.
Most search advertising now takes a pay-per-click approach.