4-1-1 forecast to hit $462 million in revenue

A new forecast from the Kelsey Group has directory assistance revenue skyrocketing over the next five years. According to researchers the market will increase by more than 60%.

by Kristina Knight

The forecast predicts that directory assistance, expected to bring in about $14 million in 2007, will bring in more than $460 million by 2012. The growth is expected to be pushed by a change from ad-sponsored directory assistance hubs to an audio ad business.

Matt Booth, senior vice president and program director, Interactive Local Media, The Kelsey Group said, “The combination of audio ads and wireless pay-per-call and text ads will drive superior per-call economics over time.”

Directory assistance has already seen a boost with the influx of users to the mobile Internet. These users are most often using PDA's or cell phones to find directions or store information, according to several reports.

“Increasingly, telecoms, directory publishers and search engines are getting into the directory assistance business, particularly in the mobile arena,” said Charles Laughlin, senior vice president and program director, The Kelsey Report®, and managing editor, The Kelsey Group.

According to a recent comScore report, local searches using a form of online directory assistance are growing 40% faster than general online searches. Local search currently accounts for about 80 million monthly searches; that is expected to grow to more than 30 billion monthly searches by 2009.