Yahoo will offer free websites for businesses that don't yet have an internet presence

Most internet business offers involve pay-per-click advertising. Unfortunately, when a business does not have a web site, there is nothing for them to click on. Thus, Yahoo's offer of free web space will help these businesses at least get their names onto the web and, perhaps, grow their presence from there.

• Yahoo's free Web site is really more of an online phone and address listing.
• It lacks the interactivity and E-commerce offerings typical of savvy online merchants.
• Yahoo Inc. said Wednesday it plans to offer free Web sites to small businesses as part of its Yahoo Local service.
• By bringing more businesses online, Yahoo aims to improve the local search experience for customers while establishing positive relations with potential online ad buyers.
• "There are over 26 million small businesses in the U.S., approximately half of which do not have a Web site," says Rich Riley, VP and GM of Yahoo Small Business.
• "So one of our goals is to make it easier than it's ever been for a small business to create an online presence."
• Once those businesses have Web sites, they may be inclined to buy online ads.
• "Yahoo really recognizes that small businesses are great revenue streams and it's a good idea to establish a relationship with them quickly and early and easily," says JupiterResearch analyst Gary Stein.
• "From there, once they have a Web page, the quickest thing that they can do is sell them search ads."
• Last month, a study by market research firms The Kelsey Group and ConStat, Inc. found that 70% of U.S. households now use the Internet as a source of information when shopping locally for products and services.
• That's a 16% increase since October 2003, making the Internet comparable to newspapers as a resource for local shopping information.
• In a research note released earlier this month, the Susquehanna Financial Group LLP suggests that local online advertising represents a market opportunity of $3 billion or more, at least as much as the national sponsored search market.
• "This is for businesses that don't yet have an online presence," says Riley.