SAN FRANCISCO-LookSmart, a distributor of Internet directories, reported an alliance between its international joint venture with British Telecom, BTLookSmart, and European mobile Internet provider Genie, enabling BTLookSmart to offer its wireless directories to BT’s subscribers and partner companies in countries throughout Europe and Asia.
The agreement calls for BTLookSmart to build 22 wireless Web directories in 19 countries, which will be incorporated into Genie’s wireless service.
“The wireless Web needs a directory,” explained Evan Thornley, chairman and chief executive officer of LookSmart. “Until now, users have been limited to a small percentage of the estimated 20,000 wireless Web sites out there. Their only options have been `walled gardens’ consisting of a few dozen merchant sites, or search engines which turn up sites that don’t work or aren’t compatible with their phone.”
Thornley noted that the agreement will provide users with increased quality content, create a contextual environment where businesses can do targeted marketing and help carriers increase their wireless Web penetration by making it easier to up sell their current wireless customers.
Currently, LookSmart incorporates 53 directories spanning 28 countries and 17 languages, distributing its directories through a partner network reaching more than 83 percent of U.S. Internet users. LookSmart’s partners include Microsoft Corp.’s MSN, AltaVista, Netscape Netcenter, Excite, iWon, Time Warner and Prodigy.
