WAKEFIELD, Mass., Jan. 9, 2006 (PRIMEZONE) -- The Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization (SEMPO) today announced that Ingenio, Inc., the pioneer and leading provider of Pay Per Call(R) advertising, has become a sponsor for the organization's 2006 initiatives and activities.
SEMPO is a non-profit professional association working worldwide to increase awareness and promote the value of Search Engine Marketing worldwide. SEMPO sponsors support the organization and provide the funds for primary research and developing educational materials for the industry.
"Ingenio values SEMPO's mission to advance awareness and knowledge of search marketing," said Mark Britto, chief executive officer, Ingenio. "The space has grown from simple text ads to more robust offerings in local and global search marketing. Pay Per Call is a natural next step to bringing the search marketing value proposition to a whole new segment of advertisers. We're excited to keep our momentum going by teaming up with an organization like SEMPO."
According to SEMPO research, advertisers worldwide spend billions of dollars a year on search engine marketing programs. This includes payments to search engines and search-related media companies, search engine marketing agencies as well as in-house expenditures in support of such programs, including "paid placement," "paid inclusion" and "organic search engine optimization."
Dana Todd, President of SEMPO Inc., said, "Pay Per Call is clearly gathering steam, especially as local search evolves and merchants of all shapes and sizes are looking to leverage the Web as a lead-generation vehicle. There is a great deal of growth to come, as our members and the SEM community move to embrace what is no doubt a large marketing opportunity. Ingenio pioneered the Pay Per Call advertising category, and we look forward to working with them to further educate marketers about the effectiveness of this model, especially as it relates to mobile and local search."
About Ingenio
Ingenio, Inc. (www.ingenio.com) is the leading provider of ecommerce solutions that combine today's two most powerful communications tools -- the Internet and the telephone. Ingenio's suite of solutions, including the industry-leading Pay Per Call(R) Advertising Network, seamlessly integrates the Web and the phone to help businesses large and small acquire new customers and grow revenue. Ingenio's patented platform enabled the company to deliver the first performance-based, Pay Per Call advertising product to market in 2004 -- and today remains the only Pay Per Call advertising system that guarantees advertisers exposure on a top-tier distribution network representing more than a billion searches monthly. Ingenio's unique technology also powers its Live!Advice Directories offering, which facilitates real-time conversations between online buyers and sellers of advice and information.
Founded in 1999, Ingenio is a profitable company with top-tier customers and partners in both America and Europe, including AOL, Microsoft, YellowPages.com, MIVA, Inc. and the IRS. Headquartered in San Francisco, Ingenio has connected 12 million buyers and sellers through its Web and telephony platform, and today produces 20 million ecommerce minutes each quarter. Please visit www.ingenio.com for more information. Pay Per Call(R) is a registered trademark of Ingenio.
About the Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization (SEMPO)
SEMPO is a non-profit professional association working to increase awareness and promote the value of search engine marketing worldwide. The organization represents the common interests of search engine marketing companies and consultants worldwide and provides them with a voice in the marketplace. For more information, or to join the organization, please visit www.SEMPO.org .