Acxiom Enhances Online Directory Data

Acxiom Corp. has teamed up with Moon Valley Software to provide more accurate and detailed information for the company's InfoBase-X Telephone Directories Online. Acxiom will utilize Moon Valley's proprietary software and technology that mines the web for richer, more up-to-date business information.

Acxiom plans to incorporate the data found by Moon Valley into its existing online directory files to help local search engines present the most relevant results for their users. InfoBase-X is a repository of U.S. business and consumer marketing data that powers Acxiom's directory products.

The information that will be integrated by Moon Valley into InfoBase-X will offer a larger number of merchant web addresses, enabling local search publishers to link an online listing to the merchant's own web site. Moon Valley's software also standardizes terms by industry and works with synonyms and other variants as initial search terms with the goal of helping users find the research results they desire as quickly as possible, as it focuses on more detailed merchant attributes.

In addition, Acxiom is working on a new data delivery system that is designed to help online publishers keep up with latest information. InfoBase-X customers will be able to receive real-time updates, corrections and additions they can access through an online connection to the database.

Competition is so tight in the search engine space that companies need to do all they can to ensure that the results they generate are the best and most comprehensive available. Searchers demand the most robust results they can get, and will frequent only those search engines who regularly deliver.

By partnering with Moon Valley, Acxiom is on track to really improve the quality of local search and give users the results they need. It's clearly not enough to provide basic contact information anymore, so such a move by Acxiom was really required. In the long run, there will be many beneficiaries to this partnership: users who will find the results they want (and find them quickly) and the merchants who want to be found. It will be much easier for them to showcase their value proposition to potential customers.

BtoB and SRDS Join Forces to Launch Direct Marketing Search Tool

Crain's BtoB Magazine and The Nielsen Company's SRDS this month launched a new direct marketing list search tool for business-to-business marketers. The new tool, BtoB's Direct Marketing List Search, is accessible at www.btobonline.com and is free to BtoB subscribers. It provides access to SRDS's complete list database of more than 20,000 business-to-business datacards as well as its search functionality.

BtoB Magazine provides subscribers with the latest business-to-business marketing news, analysis and insight, while SRDS (Standard Rate & Data Service) provides its direct marketer and list broker customers access to list data and media rates.

This partnership makes sense for all parties involved. The synergies between the two make this a great match and both BtoB Magazine and SRDS are well-positioned to provide relevant content and services to their shared customer base of direct marketers.

Obviously, they could not do this alone. But together, BtoB and SRDS have created a complete suite for direct marketers who seek to receive information about the direct marketing channel and want to follow that up with actual list research. The new tool should drive a lot more traffic to the BtoB site and could truly help SRDS recruit new customers who seek additional education in list rental, as well as boost the profile of the media outlets (magazines, newspapers, broadcast, direct marketing, online and out-of-home) that SRDS covers.

Experian Launches New Widget

Information services company Experian has launched a new widget that includes information from the company's commercial database, BizSource. The widget provides a real-time view of Experian's business information in a viewer-friendly database.

The information contained in the widget is the same as the data included in Experian's BizCheck reports. These reports summarize business information and include a credit rating system for the companies that are featured.

In the report, a green check mark means that a business "checks out," a yellow question mark means that questions were identified; and a red X signifies that problem areas were uncovered. The reports also include key facts about the featured companies, including years in business and address history. Information about potential problems, such as liens, judgments or bankruptcies are also included, along with links to more detailed Experian business credit report information.

Widgets are becoming increasingly popular in the business information space. They seem to be an effective way in which to distribute content on a very broad scale. Experian’s idea to use the technology to provide free general access is a great idea. Such access, in actuality, is a low cost marketing tool. Getting Experian content and tools into as many users' hands as possible should be the ultimate goal. Widget seem like an ideal solution to help Experian (and other business information providers) accomplish their goals.

ChoicePoint Launches CLEAR

ChoicePoint has launched CLEAR (Consolidated Lead Evaluation and Reporting), which will provide real-time data for government and law enforcement agencies through a single interface run by ChoicePoint's public and proprietary records databases. CLEAR is a browser-based application.

CLEAR's searching capabilities provide users with access to third-party data sources to help them investigate criminal activities. Real-time entity resolution of search results helps users speed their searches. Configurable and flexible reporting, as well as charting and mapping features, make the data more understandable for users.

CLEAR truly provides a very clear example of good infocommerce. The key here is a ChoicePoint solution that aggregates multiple data sources while adding analytical tools on top. Combined, they create a more valuable product for users; a product they will be more willing to pay for; and a product they will have more loyalty for since will help them achieve all of their work goals.

Polk Launches European Version of PolkInsight

R.L. Polk & Co. has launched PolkInsight for the European marketplace. The new service is designed to provide automotive analysts and marketers instance assess to European automotive information.

PolkInsight was initially launched in 2003 for the North American market and expanded into the Chinese market in 2006. It is a web-based tool that provides automakers with new registrations, PARC, sales and demographics in one comprehensive source. Users can get a glimpse of the market on a local, regional, national or multi-national basis across Europe.

This latest version of PolkInsight contains several key features: dashboards that provide snapshots of the latest data, including industry metrics by vehicle segments in each market; ReportViewer that provides a central area that houses all reports, charts and maps; Map Viewer, which utilizes a mapping capability that enables users to access datasets within the application; and an analysis package that contains pre-defined analyses, including maps, charts and reports, that provides users with a complete view of the market.

It certainly shouldn't come as a surprise that Polk would expand its successful PolkInsight product into the European market. It's a safe bet that a product that has done well in North America and China will be well-received in Europe.

Polk already has a strong global presence and an established customer base across the globe. The company should have no trouble attracting its current customers (as well as new ones) to this European version of PolkInsight, especially since the company notes that the launch is, in part, due to customer feedback. Expect Polk to keep expanding (geographically) on this successful model. It might take a couple of years, but chances are Polk will launch a new PolkInsights for yet another region.