At Hand Net: Four Leading Online Directory Companies Launch New At Hand Network

EDGE, On & About AT&T, July 20, 1998

Four major online directory companies Thursday announced the formation of the At Hand Network Yellow Pages (www.athand.com), a nationwide network of Internet Yellow Pages services. The At Hand Network is a business search service offering the most accurate and most reliable business listings information nationwide. It is operated jointly by the Internet publishing divisions of Ameritech, BellSouth, SBC Communications and U S WEST.

In June 1997, this group formed a marketing alliance that cooperatively developed "The 'Original Yellow Pages,' a shared search page. The At Hand Network expands this service, providing consumers with a common search form, URL and accurate and complete electronic yellow pages information nationwide. In addition, the At Hand Network provides access to the search solutions these companies offer and provides a foundation for the future development of a network of services.

The group has adopted At Hand as their common brand name, and the URL as their shared search page. The former At Hand site, operated by SBC Interactive, has been renamed SMARTpages and covers the seven states served by Southwestern Bell, Pacific Bell and Nevada Bell.

"The creation of the At Hand Network represents a significant advancement for the companies involved," said Donald J. Perozzi, Group President BellSouth Advertising & Publishing. "Because of the potential of the Internet as a new medium, our customers need a place in this new space. Now, consumers have the opportunity to go to one place for comprehensive, up-to-date yellow pages information supported by four of the publishers in the industry. It is a very powerful tool for users and advertisers."

The At Hand Network offers consumers an online gateway to the vast array of yellow pages business listings across the country. "In forming the At Hand Network, we relied on expertise from all participating companies in order to develop an easy to use, one-stop shopping solution for consumers," said Tony Rodrigues, recently named to lead the At Hand Network as Vice President and General Manager. "Consumers are logging more than 3.5 million visits per month collectively through the four online directory companies' web sites. By providing one-stop navigation, we can direct consumers to the greatest depth of online local business information and the most reliable, accurate source of listings."

The launch of the At Hand Network also signals the importance in connecting the consumer to the local advertiser. According to John Nofs, named to lead Business Development for the At Hand Network, "The success of 'The Original Yellow Pages' served as the model for the creation of the At Hand Network. By offering consumers access to millions of nationwide business listings and more than 225,000 enhanced local merchant records, the At Hand Network surpasses any competitive yellow pages offering in the marketplace."

Enhanced local merchant records include the type of information consumers are looking for when making informed buying decisions such as hours of operation and payment methods. "The At Hand Network approach demonstrates the viability of the online yellow pages as a compelling advertising opportunity for businesses of any size," continued Nofs.

New User Interface The At Hand Network features a new, easy-to-use dual search screen interface that offers faster business search capabilities and allows consumers to enter their selection criteria directly on the At Hand Home Page. Search results will be provided directly by the web site operated by the online directory publisher serving the specific city, state or region. Previously, consumers were directed to select a state from a U.S. map and were linked to the appropriate yellow pages web site to conduct their search. The new user interface improves the user experience, offers faster searches and fewer steps. Additionally, each company is adopting the same dual search screen interface on their individual sites.

o Searches in the five Great Lakes states will be conducted through Ameritech Internet Yellow Pages (yp.ameritech.net).

o Searches in the nine southeastern states served by BellSouth will be directed to The Real Yellow Pages ONLINE (yp.bellsouth.com)

o Searches in SBC Communications' seven state area served by Southwestern Bell, Pacific Bell and Nevada Bell will be directed to SBC Interactive SMARTpages (www.smartpages.com)

o Searches in 14 Western and Midwestern states served by U S WEST will be conducted through U S WEST Dex Internet Yellow Pages (uswestdex.com).

Listings for businesses located outside of the regions covered directly by the four online directory companies will be provided by a nationwide database of business listings. Searches for businesses in these states will be conducted through the Web sites operated by Ameritech, SBC Communications and U S WEST on a rotating basis.

"The online directory marketplace is experiencing fierce competition from companies not generally considered to be in the yellow pages business," said John Kelsey, president of The Kelsey Group in Princeton, NJ. "Our research has consistently shown that the most important attribute to success is accuracy of content. The At Hand Network provides an unmatched sales presence to deliver accurate and complete content, reach businesses and create a foundation for electronic commerce."