Brisbane based Clickfind.com.au has launched a competitive attack on the established Yellow Pages Online and Microsoft's Mylocal business models offering advertising-free directory listings that help secure top Google rankings for Australian business owners. According to a recent AC Nielsen survey, Internet shoppers have increased 40 per cent over the last two years to 875 million people worldwide, of which 85 per cent have searched, shopped, and completed a purchase online.

Taco Fleur, founder of Clickfind.com.au said these trends are forcing many business owners to review their directory spend, demand more Web site traffic and get assistance in improving their search engine rankings on sites like Google and Yahoo which are crucial to getting sales online.

"Search engines like Google have hundreds of formula and criteria that decide site rankings and business owners are telling us it's a nightmare to understand," Fleur said.

"They would rather use a simple online directory listing to ensure they improve their Web site search engine rankings and sales". Older business directories such as D-Look, Mylocal, True Local, and Yellow Pages all offer the ability to pay per listing in their directory and most supplement their revenues with banner advertising.

"I talk to many business owners who realise how important the Internet is and pay good money to list in these in directories, only to find that a banner advertisement from a competitor is appearing right next to their listing without ever being told this may occur; they are rightly furious," he said.

Clickfind.com.au has ignored this model in favour of no banner ads, and believes this type of service is key in securing long term listings. Since the major site launch 90 days ago Clickfind is indexing thousands of pages in Google every week with one month trial listings scheduled to close on April 15, 2008.

- with Sandra Rossi