An Increase in Online Punting

An item in yesterday’s Sydney Morning Herald entitled Tabcorp Punters bet $1 Billion on the Internet, got me thinking about the extent to which we are transacting on the internet these days.

The article talks about how 35% of Tabcorp’s account holders are internet-enabled, and how the revenue from online betting increased 23.5% in 2006/2007.

A couple of interesting quotes from Robert Nason, managing director of wagering at Tabcorp:

“We have driven rapid sales growth through the Internet and it continues to be our fastest growing distribution channel.”

Mr Nason said the website will be a key focus of the company.

“Internet betting is a key element of our strategy to create a strong wagering platform for growth,” Mr Nason said”.

So how does this affect dLook? It doesn’t really but if you are a business who is looking to get more customers you might want to join companies like Tabcorp who have a dLook Premium listing.

Is gambling a problem for you?
CALL G-Line (NSW) counselling service 1800 633 635 or
Gamblers Help (VIC) 1800 156 789

58% of Australian Households are Online

Results from the 2006 Census have shown that 58% of Australian households have internet access. Given that the population of Australia is 19,855,289 (living in 7,986,165) households, this indicates that 11,516,018 Australians had access to the internet (as at August 2006). This was also reported by the Sydney Morning Herald.

Furthermore the results showed that 37% of all Australian households, or 7,346,457 Australians, connect to the internet via Broadband connection.

It’s no wonder that online advertising has increased by 66%.

Links to Popular Australian Resources

A home page feature on dLook which is becoming a real favourite are our links to popular Australian resources.

These are listed towards the bottom of the dLook home page just under the top 40 search list. There are 12 buttons representing fast links to popular categories which are mostly public services.

Postcodes
Weather
Street Maps
Blog Guide
Dictionary
Employment
Funeral Notices
Government
After Hours Medical
Latest News
Trains & Buses
Airports

Feedback from dLook users tells us that the convenience of these quick links is a real winner.

dLook Introduces Local Business Reviews

UPDATE: 2011 – dLook have relaunched our reviews platform and now utilise our own legacy reviews database to ensure integrity and validity.

dLook®, has today announced the facility to rate and review every business listed on its directory, the first of the major Australian business directories to do so.

So as to bring users the most sophisticated and up to date rating system available, dLook chose a dynamic Australian internet start-up Rave About It to power the business reviews. Rave About It was developed by exceptionally talented software engineers and, like dLook, is 100% Australian owned and operated.

Local reviews are extremely popular in the United States, with websites such as Yelp, Judy’s Book, Insider Pages and Yellow Pages (US).

It made good sense to introduce this reviewing model to Australian businesses on a large scale – and with over 1.3 million businesses listed on the directory, we’ve certainly done that.

This announcement comes on the heels of recent additions to the directory – the inclusion of maps (provided by TerraPages, another Australian startup), more information pages for every listing, and dLook’s mobile search platform – dLook.mobi.

Coupled with existing features:-

• “QuoteMe!” quoting system (this is very popular) where a customer can select up to 10 businesses at a time to request a quote for a product or service,
• Discount coupons which are included in a monthly email
• Monthly payment option ($59.50) which can be cancelled by giving 30 days notice (annual fee is $599)
• Premium listings can have four categories, keywords, and national coverage (if applicable)
• Search which allows users to refine their search by kilometre radius from a postcode, 2, 5, 10km….. up to the whole nation.
• Smart keyword search that means if you search for “restrnt”, “plummer” or “doktor” you’ll get a result (new variations are continually added)
• Advertiser interface (via login) so they can manage their own listings, quote requests and coupons

…. makes dLook an extremely comprehensive business directory.

If you’ve got something to say about your favourite (or not so favourite) business, please visit dLook and leave a review.

New Banner for dlook.mobi

News Roundup for dLook

Our new national TV campaign is now in its second week and already proving a HUGE success. Utilising the extensive WIN TV regional network our ads are being seen by over 5 million Australians every day and the response has been overwhelming. We intend to extend our campaign to include Capital cities soon. Meanwhile, listen out for our live reads on Vega 93.5 FM (in Sydney). Most of them are pretty straight laced but the on air guys get a bit crazy with some reads.

The “More Info” page has also proven to be very popular both with users and advertisers alike. Premium businesses get to add a lot of extra text, products and services, opening hours, payment types, certifications, photos and a dLook coupon which they may then opt to have distributed, via our monthly coupon mail out, to over 50,000 Australian recipients.

dLook has also released a complete national mapping service provided by Australian location based services company, TerraPages Pty Ltd to deliver rich, user friendly maps to the dLook website.

Have you added detail to your more information page yet? It’s simple. Premium businesses should log in, and free listings can “update their business listing“, or “add a listing“.

Not being the type of website to let technology pass us by, dLook has also launched a mobile search function – dLook.mobi. This means that the whole dLook directory is now available on WAP enabled mobile phones in an easy to access mobile form.

This feature was also developed by those fantastic guys at Alliance Software in Melbourne who literally eat complicated IT solutions for breakfast. We have managed to keep dLook an all Australian product and although overseas firms offer much cheaper rates, we believe that our home grown IT resources are better, more innovative and totally in touch with Australian internet users.

Watch this space Ladies and Gentlemen, the best is yet to come.

A Big Week for dLook

There’ll be an exciting announcement from dLook later this week – stay tuned

In the meantime, enjoy a sneak peak of our new TV ad, which is going to air this week.

Free Directory Advertising Proves a Hit

We’ve been really busy over at dLook the last few days.

I recently wrote about how dlook had reinstated free listings. That’s actually not quite accurate because we’ve always accepted free listings, but now we are making it really obvious.

We’ve updated our home page

And in prime position is the following

This has resulted in up to 70 new business listings per day. The whole process is really quick, and is generally active within minutes during business hours.

We’ve also found that by moving the “Bargains Galore” banner to its new position, we’re also getting more people signing up to receive dLook’s monthly email for discount coupons. Yep, everyone loves a bargain alright.

Free Australian Online Advertising at dLook

Today dLook business directory reinstated free business directory listings for Australian businesses. If you currently operate a business in Australia, head on over to the dLook sign up page and if you decide that a premium listing isn’t for you, you can click the drop down box, select “free listing”, and add your basic business details free of charge.

This is a great way to get free advertising for your Australian business.