The Golden Pages online site is a classic example of why offline marketing logic can fail online. It seems to be two distinct parts that never really meet up. The frames interface is reminiscent of the design style of a few years ago (when people thought frames were cool and before Netscape dropped them). The interface is clunky and there is absolutely no other content on the site apart from the AUP and the promotional pages about how great the Yellow Pages is. So why the should anyone advertise on the Golden Pages site? 

In situations where there is confusion about marketing on the web, people tend to implement the solutions that worked in the last generation of technology. The term "shovelware" is similar to "brochureware". The Golden Pages Online site was an attempt to tack on what essentially was a CD-ROM application on to a website. On a CD-ROM there is a lot more control over the data set, especially if the data is encrypted and queries flow through a special program. (Which it does on the TE CD-ROM application.) However you can see the raw elements of security in the CD-ROM model that were not, initially, transferred to the website. Perhaps the more important lesson to be learned here is that you have to understand the environment that the application will be deployed in. 

With the advances in technology, especially scanning and OCR, things that were considered impossible with telephone directories can now be achieved by any schoolkid with a clue and a fairly ordinary computer. The Yellow Pages are marginally more difficult to scan/OCR since there would be a lot of background clutter on some pages. The Golden Pages online site made it a lot easier for people to exploit data that would have been difficult to extract otherwise. This downwards shift in the value of the data set should have been offset by being able to cleverly market that data - after all according to the AUP had copyright on the data.

The Golden Pages Online site is a classic example of a failure to exploit a dominant market position due to a failure in strategic thinking. The logic of marketing thought from a different age is glaring - the search pages only use untargeted banner adverts on a rotating basis and house adverts (TE and Local.ie) are prevalent. Who wants to see a TE or Local.ie advert when they are looking for an outboard motor or a Chinese Takeaway that delivers?

Golden Pages could have a system that offers placement to the advertisers - thus if someone is looking for a list of computer shops in an area, a banner advert for a particular shop should be coughed back with the results. With keyword or themed searches, this would be simple - if the Golden Pages had the banner adverts.

The use of banner adverts is a Catch 22 proposition for sites like the Golden Pages Online. The click-though, (when a user clicks on the advert and goes to the advertised site) percentage on these adverts rarely gets over 2%. To make such advertising effective, the adverts have to be either very good or capable of brainwashing. Of course without the eyes on site, the whole thing is pointless.

For Golden Pages to be successful, it would have to get the eyes on site figures up considerably first. The paper Yellow Pages is a lot more usable and a lot more consulted. It is up to the Golden Pages to take this information and add value and context to it - otherwise people will continue to use the paper version.  Amazon is the best example of this logic of contextualising  - it offers additional and sometimes valuable information in a way that people can use. The nearest equivalent for Golden Pages would be to have targeted advertising.

The other thing about online marketing that Golden Pages management does not understand is that a site like Golden Pages Online depends on affiliation for popularity. A snatch of HTML (as in the amazon.com search form) for other sites to use as a  Golden Pages search form would ensure that it upped the traffic levels. Most commercial Irish sites would include it. Of course they would have to have some form of quid pro quo. Such things are obvious to anyone who has a clue about commerce on the internet. To date Telecom Eireann and the Golden Pages have not shown any great expertise in that area despite all the hype.