Yahoo Gives Away Free Web Hosting to Small Businesses

The Internet company on Wednesday introduced a new service that lets any small business sign up for a free Web page to appear in Yahoo's local directory.

"Our hope is over time that certainly Yahoo will be top of mind as they think of promoting their site" or for other services, Levine said in an interview.

Search engine marketing is a multibillion-dollar sector of the online-advertising business, and Web providers have earmarked local search as healthy ground for future growth. Still, many small businesses have yet to operate a Web site to be found in a search engine. More than half of the 20 million U.S. small businesses are without a Web site, according to estimates from the Kelsey Group.

Yahoo Local general manager Paul Levine said providing small businesses with free Web sites helps them leverage the Internet and adds depth and comprehensiveness to Yahoo's local product for consumers.

"As more and more consumers rely on the Internet for information about their neighborhood -- from finding restaurants to plumbers to dry cleaners -- local businesses are realizing the value of reaching potential customers online," Levine said.

Yahoo! is offering every small business with a physical U.S. address a free, five-page Web site, the company announced today. Those sites will automatically be integrated into Yahoo! Local search results.

Benefits go both ways, Levine said, noting the free sites will also improve the quality of Yahoo!'s local search results. These sites are automatically integrated into Yahoo! Local, extending businesses' reach to consumers who use search engines to find information about local products and services.

According to Kelsey Group research, over half of the U.S.'s 20 million small businesses don't yet have Web sites. Yahoo! is providing these businesses a simple interface and a template that allows them to create a basic site in minutes.