IRVINE, Calif.—Local.com Corporation (NASDAQ: LOCM), a leading online local media company, today announced that the company has been awarded patent number 8,032,427 by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office covering a system for providing localized shopping information.
“Consumers are increasingly using mobile devices and apps to research products that are ultimately purchased at brick-and-mortar retailers. As a result of this, we believe that location-based services will play a growing role in connecting retailers with ready-to-buy consumers who are searching for those products”
Issued on Oct. 4, 2011, the patent describes a system by which consumers are provided with online information for specific products sold by local retailers using location-based information to determine relevance. The patented system also provides for the display of relevant advertising along with the sought-after local shopping information.
According to BIA/Kelsey, approximately 97 percent of consumers who use the Internet have used it to research goods or services they purchased offline.
“Consumers are increasingly using mobile devices and apps to research products that are ultimately purchased at brick-and-mortar retailers. As a result of this, we believe that location-based services will play a growing role in connecting retailers with ready-to-buy consumers who are searching for those products,” said Heath Clarke, chairman and CEO, Local.com. “We believe this new patent, acquired as part of our acquisition of Krillion, provides Local.com with important new intellectual property in this space.”
Acquired by Local.com in April, 2011, Krillion is a leading location-based product search service that connects online shoppers with products available in stores locally, with current discount, pricing and product information. Krillion’s localized shopping data adds local relevance at the product level and enables national campaigns to reach web-influenced local shoppers across the U.S. Today, the growing Krillion local search index includes more than 1,200 brands representing more than 77,000 products from more than 70,000 retail locations.
Rovion (a division of Local.com) recently released the industry’s first localized rich media ad platform, RAMP, which incorporates Krillion’s dynamic, in-store product inventory availability and current pricing data for products sold by local retailers. The company plans to utilize Krillion product data across its businesses, including providing product directories for its network of approximately 1,500 regional media sites, a future local product app for smart phones, and to provide consumers access to daily discounts from local retailers via its Spreebird daily deals business.
About Local.com®
Local.com Corporation (NASDAQ:LOCM), a leading online local media company, enables brick-and-mortar businesses to connect with online customers using a variety of digital marketing products. The company reaches more than 25 million consumers each month on the flagship Local.com website, approximately 1,500 regional media sites and more than 100,000 geo-category websites. The company distributes daily deals to hundreds of thousands of email subscribers in 14 markets via Spreebird.com, rich media ads via Rovion.com, and real-time product inventory information from more than 70,000 retail locations nationwide via Krillion.com. To advertise, or for more information, visit: http://www.local.com/.