1-800-FREE-411

1-800-FREE-411 is an American service offering advertising-supported directory assistance, operated by Marchex.

Marchex
TypePublic
IndustryTelecommunications
Founded2005 in Burlington, MA
HeadquartersSeattle, WA, U.S.
Key people
Russell C. Horowitz, CEO
Products1-800-FREE411 directory service
ParentLiberty Media (9%) [1]
Websitewww.free411.com

Service

Callers dial 1-800 (888 or 866)-FREE411 [373-3411] from any phone in the United States to use the toll-free service. Sponsors cover part of the service cost by playing advertising messages during the call. Callers always hear an ad at the beginning of the call, and then another after they have made their request. Callers then identify the city and state for the desired information, and can then search either by name or by business type. Free directory assistance is also available from an application for the iPhone and Android mobile phones,[2] and from their website. The service, provided entirely by computer and with no human operators, uses a voice-recognition database to recognize names or places spoken by the user.

Corporate overview

The original parent corporation, Jingle Networks, was formed in 2005, and received its initial funding from First Round Capital of $400,000.[3] By the spring of 2008 it had, according to TechCrunch, "captured a six percent market share of directory assistance calls." At that time, Jingle Networks received 20 million calls per month.[4] Since that peak, the company has reported fewer calls, around 15 million per month, as consumers shift to smart-phones to get directory information.[5]

On October 23, 2006, Jingle Networks announced that it raised $30 million in fourth round financing from Goldman Sachs and Hearst Corporation. This came after a $26 million round in April 2006, and a $5 million round in December 2005. Also on that date, Jingle Network's CEO volunteered on TechCrunch that his company was losing on average 5 cents for every call they processed.[6] On June 25, 2008, TechCrunch repeated Jingle's press releases that they had reached per-call profitability.[7]

Jingle Networks aims at attracting customers away from an existing fee-based market. The Wall Street Journal described it as "inspired by the business model of Google".[8] From 2005 through the early 2010, Jingle Networks guessed they saved consumers $1 billion[5] based on an inflated rate of $2 a call for directory assistance.

In April 2011, Marchex bought Jingle Networks for $62.5M in combination of cash and stock. Marchex says Jingle Networks will generate more than $26 million in 2011 revenue, up more than 40 percent over 2010. Marchex said it expects call-driven revenue to make up 75 percent of the company's 2011 revenue.[9]

See also

References
  1. "List of Liberty Media assets". Archived from the original on 2011-08-17. Retrieved 2011-11-02.
  2. Jingle Networks, Inc. Bloomberg Businessweek. Retrieved 2011-03-13.
  3. Michael Arrington (2005-10-03). "1-800-free-411: Free directory calls". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2011-02-03.
  4. Rick Schonfeld (2008-05-21). "On the Road to An IPO, Jingle Networks Prepares to Launch A Voice Ad Network". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2011-02-03.
  5. "1-800-FREE411 Expands Reach Into Mobile Search With Launch of iPhone and Android Apps". EON. 2010-02-03. Archived from the original on 2012-03-12. Retrieved 2011-02-03.
  6. "TalkCrunch » Blog Archive » Interview With Jingle CEO and Venture Capitalist". Archived from the original on 2007-01-27. Retrieved 2007-01-24.
  7. Jingle Networks Proves Their Free Business Model Works
  8. Rebecca Buckman (2006-04-20). "Your Listing, and a Word From Our Sponsor". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on 2007-11-27. Retrieved 2006-11-03. Article reprinted on kelseygroup.com.
  9. Greg Lamm (2011-04-11). "Marchex buys mobile ad company Jingle Networks for $62.5M". Tech Flash. Retrieved 2011-05-10.
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