Comments on: 1-800-FREE411 Sells Out Half Its Ad Inventory For the Year, Growth Steadies. http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/01/31/1-800-free411-sells-out-half-its-ad-inventory-for-the-year-growth-steadies/ Startup and Technology News Thu, 24 Jul 2008 09:23:36 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5.1 By: mako http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/01/31/1-800-free411-sells-out-half-its-ad-inventory-for-the-year-growth-steadies/#comment-1955951 mako Fri, 01 Feb 2008 00:27:59 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/01/31/1-800-free411-sells-out-half-its-ad-inventory-for-the-year-growth-steadies/#comment-1955951 hmmm..the fact that traffic is down is not a good thing at all. this idea peaked and the competition is showing up. that said, its interesting but surely not the future...can you say vonage? hmmm..the fact that traffic is down is not a good thing at all. this idea peaked and the competition is showing up. that said, its interesting but surely not the future…can you say vonage?

]]> By: Kevin Burke http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/01/31/1-800-free411-sells-out-half-its-ad-inventory-for-the-year-growth-steadies/#comment-1955746 Kevin Burke Thu, 31 Jan 2008 22:40:48 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/01/31/1-800-free411-sells-out-half-its-ad-inventory-for-the-year-growth-steadies/#comment-1955746 I agree with No 5 - why call this service and waste your time listening to an ad? I use 1-800-GOOG-411 all the time - it's FREE, I've never heard an ad, and they connect you. I agree with No 5 - why call this service and waste your time listening to an ad? I use 1-800-GOOG-411 all the time - it’s FREE, I’ve never heard an ad, and they connect you.

]]> By: J. Blacksmith http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/01/31/1-800-free411-sells-out-half-its-ad-inventory-for-the-year-growth-steadies/#comment-1955579 J. Blacksmith Thu, 31 Jan 2008 21:29:12 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/01/31/1-800-free411-sells-out-half-its-ad-inventory-for-the-year-growth-steadies/#comment-1955579 I've been using for years a Directory Assistant application on my Palm Treo that works like a charm. The developer recently changed the name to tryDA - No annoying 10 sec. audio spots - No voice UN-recognition - No eye piercing maps - Just clean text listings Let me know if any one else has seen this one www.tryda.com Cheers I’ve been using for years a Directory Assistant application on my Palm Treo that works like a charm. The developer recently changed the name to tryDA

- No annoying 10 sec. audio spots
- No voice UN-recognition
- No eye piercing maps
- Just clean text listings

Let me know if any one else has seen this one http://www.tryda.com

Cheers

]]> By: J. Peterson http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/01/31/1-800-free411-sells-out-half-its-ad-inventory-for-the-year-growth-steadies/#comment-1955503 J. Peterson Thu, 31 Jan 2008 20:56:43 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/01/31/1-800-free411-sells-out-half-its-ad-inventory-for-the-year-growth-steadies/#comment-1955503 "What's not to love..."? Obnoxious ads, that's what. I've completely dropped Free411 in favor of Goog411 or looking things up on my (hacked) RAZR's crude browser. I used to use Free411 all the time, but the ads started to get really time consuming and annoying. Interestingly, their success could easily kill Free411. The more "ad inventory" they sell, the more their users get annoyed by ads and start looking for alternatives. “What’s not to love…”?

Obnoxious ads, that’s what.

I’ve completely dropped Free411 in favor of Goog411 or looking things up on my (hacked) RAZR’s crude browser. I used to use Free411 all the time, but the ads started to get really time consuming and annoying.

Interestingly, their success could easily kill Free411. The more “ad inventory” they sell, the more their users get annoyed by ads and start looking for alternatives.

]]> By: Livecrunch http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/01/31/1-800-free411-sells-out-half-its-ad-inventory-for-the-year-growth-steadies/#comment-1955500 Livecrunch Thu, 31 Jan 2008 20:56:28 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/01/31/1-800-free411-sells-out-half-its-ad-inventory-for-the-year-growth-steadies/#comment-1955500 20 Million calls per month? Impossible! 20.000.000 / 30 days= 666K calls PER DAY even per year 20.000.000 / 365 days =54794 Calls PER DAY Either you wrote the false number OR that company gave you wrong informations. 20 Million calls per month?

Impossible!

20.000.000 / 30 days= 666K calls PER DAY

even per year
20.000.000 / 365 days =54794 Calls PER DAY

Either you wrote the false number OR that company gave you wrong informations.

]]> By: Silicon Valley http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/01/31/1-800-free411-sells-out-half-its-ad-inventory-for-the-year-growth-steadies/#comment-1955304 Silicon Valley Thu, 31 Jan 2008 19:51:24 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/01/31/1-800-free411-sells-out-half-its-ad-inventory-for-the-year-growth-steadies/#comment-1955304 What was so funny was trying to call FREE 411 on a Verizon Pay phone and getting a block. Yes, Verizon will NOT allow you to call that number - however, they do allow you to call Google and Microsoft's free directory assistance. The irony of it all is that those other services Connect You Free of Charge Microsoft - 1-800-CALL411 Google - 1-800-GOOG411 What was so funny was trying to call FREE 411 on a Verizon Pay phone and getting a block. Yes, Verizon will NOT allow you to call that number - however, they do allow you to call Google and Microsoft’s free directory assistance.

The irony of it all is that those other services Connect You Free of Charge

Microsoft - 1-800-CALL411

Google - 1-800-GOOG411

]]> By: John_ http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/01/31/1-800-free411-sells-out-half-its-ad-inventory-for-the-year-growth-steadies/#comment-1955295 John_ Thu, 31 Jan 2008 19:48:32 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/01/31/1-800-free411-sells-out-half-its-ad-inventory-for-the-year-growth-steadies/#comment-1955295 Hello, I need a relatively small fund < 30K to launch my ongoing web 2.0 project in the next two month. Strong software background with small low cost off-shore engineering team. Anyone interested to help please send email to me at hth_999@yahoo.com thanks Hello, I need a relatively small fund < 30K to launch my ongoing web 2.0 project in the next two month. Strong software background with small low cost off-shore engineering team. Anyone interested to help please send email to me at hth_999@yahoo.com thanks

]]> By: Paly http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/01/31/1-800-free411-sells-out-half-its-ad-inventory-for-the-year-growth-steadies/#comment-1955204 Paly Thu, 31 Jan 2008 19:13:38 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/01/31/1-800-free411-sells-out-half-its-ad-inventory-for-the-year-growth-steadies/#comment-1955204 "Its website" “Its website”

]]> By: ripple024 http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/01/31/1-800-free411-sells-out-half-its-ad-inventory-for-the-year-growth-steadies/#comment-1955201 ripple024 Thu, 31 Jan 2008 19:12:34 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/01/31/1-800-free411-sells-out-half-its-ad-inventory-for-the-year-growth-steadies/#comment-1955201 no goog411, no care. no goog411, no care.

]]> By: sd http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/01/31/1-800-free411-sells-out-half-its-ad-inventory-for-the-year-growth-steadies/#comment-1955200 sd Thu, 31 Jan 2008 19:12:17 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/01/31/1-800-free411-sells-out-half-its-ad-inventory-for-the-year-growth-steadies/#comment-1955200 the reason big funded companies are covered because they are pay per post coverage? the reason big funded companies are covered because they are pay per post coverage?

]]> By: George http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/01/31/1-800-free411-sells-out-half-its-ad-inventory-for-the-year-growth-steadies/#comment-1955189 George Thu, 31 Jan 2008 19:08:25 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/01/31/1-800-free411-sells-out-half-its-ad-inventory-for-the-year-growth-steadies/#comment-1955189 According to Marissa, 1-800-GOOG-411 is simply a tool Google uses to get large amounts of voice data to train its speech recognition algorithms. They are not approaching it with a business mindset and won't advertise it as such. According to Marissa, 1-800-GOOG-411 is simply a tool Google uses to get large amounts of voice data to train its speech recognition algorithms. They are not approaching it with a business mindset and won’t advertise it as such.

]]> By: WebSide Ventures http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/01/31/1-800-free411-sells-out-half-its-ad-inventory-for-the-year-growth-steadies/#comment-1955138 WebSide Ventures Thu, 31 Jan 2008 18:51:16 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/01/31/1-800-free411-sells-out-half-its-ad-inventory-for-the-year-growth-steadies/#comment-1955138 @5 - I agree, I'm surprised he didn't mention them either. I read an interesting post not long ago that talked about how GOOG 411 isn't really what is seems though. Marissa Meyer of Google is quoted as saying, "Whether or not free-411 is a profitable business unto itself is yet to be seen. I myself am somewhat skeptical. The reason we really did it is because we need to build a great speech-to-text model … that we can use for all kinds of different things, including video search." @5 - I agree, I’m surprised he didn’t mention them either. I read an interesting post not long ago that talked about how GOOG 411 isn’t really what is seems though. Marissa Meyer of Google is quoted as saying, “Whether or not free-411 is a profitable business unto itself is yet to be seen. I myself am somewhat skeptical. The reason we really did it is because we need to build a great speech-to-text model … that we can use for all kinds of different things, including video search.”

]]> By: Matthew Claypotch http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/01/31/1-800-free411-sells-out-half-its-ad-inventory-for-the-year-growth-steadies/#comment-1955122 Matthew Claypotch Thu, 31 Jan 2008 18:47:27 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/01/31/1-800-free411-sells-out-half-its-ad-inventory-for-the-year-growth-steadies/#comment-1955122 I'm surprised Erick didn't mention the other contender in the realm of free directory assistance- 1-800-GOOG-411. It's all voice recognition, and I've never heard an ad. I’m surprised Erick didn’t mention the other contender in the realm of free directory assistance- 1-800-GOOG-411. It’s all voice recognition, and I’ve never heard an ad.

]]> By: WebSide Ventures http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/01/31/1-800-free411-sells-out-half-its-ad-inventory-for-the-year-growth-steadies/#comment-1955064 WebSide Ventures Thu, 31 Jan 2008 18:32:20 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/01/31/1-800-free411-sells-out-half-its-ad-inventory-for-the-year-growth-steadies/#comment-1955064 I agree, I'd much rather listen to a 10 second spot than pay $1 or more just to get a phone number. I think their model is pretty brilliant. I agree, I’d much rather listen to a 10 second spot than pay $1 or more just to get a phone number. I think their model is pretty brilliant.

]]> By: Adolf bin Streisand http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/01/31/1-800-free411-sells-out-half-its-ad-inventory-for-the-year-growth-steadies/#comment-1955046 Adolf bin Streisand Thu, 31 Jan 2008 18:29:20 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/01/31/1-800-free411-sells-out-half-its-ad-inventory-for-the-year-growth-steadies/#comment-1955046 Say what you will about Jingle, but the fact is they are providing a service for free that used to cost between $1-2. It's a perfect example of ad-supported telephony. It may not be of interest to all people, but 20M folks a month find it of value. Ad-supported telephony is coming, in a variety of forms, shapes, and sizes. Jingle is just the start. If someone if offering you a free or cheaper telco service and is doing so via intelligent ad support, it's a trade a lot of people will make. Say what you will about Jingle, but the fact is they are providing a service for free that used to cost between $1-2. It’s a perfect example of ad-supported telephony.

It may not be of interest to all people, but 20M folks a month find it of value.

Ad-supported telephony is coming, in a variety of forms, shapes, and sizes. Jingle is just the start. If someone if offering you a free or cheaper telco service and is doing so via intelligent ad support, it’s a trade a lot of people will make.

]]> By: Techcrunch spam http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/01/31/1-800-free411-sells-out-half-its-ad-inventory-for-the-year-growth-steadies/#comment-1954998 Techcrunch spam Thu, 31 Jan 2008 18:19:03 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/01/31/1-800-free411-sells-out-half-its-ad-inventory-for-the-year-growth-steadies/#comment-1954998 This is another Techcrunch spam written by Erick. We know which one is spam. I want to give you one star for this. Is there voting star polls for techcrunch ? This is another Techcrunch spam written by Erick.
We know which one is spam. I want to give you one star for this.

Is there voting star polls for techcrunch ?

]]> By: Companies that don't make me rich http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/01/31/1-800-free411-sells-out-half-its-ad-inventory-for-the-year-growth-steadies/#comment-1954981 Companies that don't make me rich Thu, 31 Jan 2008 18:15:20 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/01/31/1-800-free411-sells-out-half-its-ad-inventory-for-the-year-growth-steadies/#comment-1954981 $75 million dollar for 1-800 number. You must be kidding... I avoid anything "free" labels. 1.) Telemarketing calls 2.) Email spams 3.) Junk Mail spams. $75 million dollar for 1-800 number. You must be kidding…

I avoid anything “free” labels.
1.) Telemarketing calls
2.) Email spams
3.) Junk Mail spams.

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