Research company, The Kelsey Group, has predicted that Pay Per-Call, delivering telephone calls instead of clicks to online advertisers will generate $1.4 billion in revenue by 2009.
Depending on the average price per call and market penetration, the figure could be as high as $4 billion.
Pay Per Call enables online consumers to find businesses via ads that appear in search results on search engines and directories. Consumers contact the provider at the phone number and times specified.
Advertisers pay only when their Pay Per Call ads generate a call to their business, rather than clicks to their website.
Ninety eight percent of approximately 22 million businesses in the United States are small to medium-sized enterprises, making a perfect market for companies such as Ingenio, that provide Pay Per Call services