ServiceMaster Taps Yodle as Exclusive Search Engine Marketer for All Franchises

Yodle, Inc., a leader in local online advertising and lead generation, announced today that it has been selected as the exclusive preferred search engine marketing vendor for major franchise network ServiceMaster. YodleFranchise, which applies Yodle’s complete online advertising solution for individual local businesses to franchise operations, will help promote ServiceMaster’s network of franchises online, including Merry Maids, AmeriSpec, Furniture Medic, and ServiceMaster Clean.

“Our network of home and business services is vast and growing – and we need a system that will efficiently and effectively promote all of our locations and licenses online and drive new business leads to each of them,” said ServiceMaster VP of Marketing Jim Wassell. “After putting the top players in the search engine marketing space through a rigorous selection process, we recognized Yodle as the best solution, and look forward to seeing the results they drive for our thousands of locations.”

YodleFranchise, which launched over a year ago, is powered by Yodle’s robust online advertising platform, and helps individual local service-oriented businesses find new customers using the internet. In catering to the specialized needs of franchise operations like ServiceMaster, YodleFranchise organizes a franchise’s advertising efforts into one, large-scale, synchronized effort – all while carefully maintaining the local focus necessary to help drive results to individual locations. As a result, corporate offices can easily monitor and coordinate the campaigns of all their locations and/or franchisees without having to bring additional costly marketing personnel in house.

“Like many large franchise networks, ServiceMaster needs an online marketing solution that’s large enough to handle its entire network, yet local enough to drive results to their individual locations,” said Yodle Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing Mike DeLuca. “We have dedicated tremendous resources to building the technology and expertise that addresses the unique needs of multi-location businesses and large franchise organizations. We’re glad to be putting it to use with networks like ServiceMaster.”

Demand for local advertising continues to rise, despite the economic downturn. According to Borrell data, there are 14.6 million SMBs across the country, and small and medium businesses are now investing in online advertising more than ever with $6.7 billion spent in local online interactive advertising last year.

Yodle has seen 200% growth in 2009. Research firm Borrell Associates recently listed Yodle as the fastest-growing local Internet advertising company in 2009 (“2010 Outlook: Local Online Advertising, October 2009).

About Yodle

Yodle, a leader in local online advertising, connects local businesses with consumers in a process so simple and cost-effective that business owners can't imagine any other way to advertise. Yodle has developed an integrated approach to signing up and serving local businesses that are transitioning their marketing budgets online. Yodle is headquartered in New York, NY with a presence in 25 major cities across the United States and has hundreds of employees helping thousands of customers.

About ServiceMaster

ServiceMaster currently serves residential and commercial customers through a network of over 5,500 company-owned locations and franchised licenses. The Company's brands include TruGreen, TruGreen LandCare, Terminix, American Home Shield, ServiceMaster Clean, Merry Maids, Furniture Medic, and AmeriSpec. The core services of the Company include lawn care and landscape maintenance, termite and pest control, home warranties, disaster response and reconstruction, cleaning and disaster restoration, house cleaning, furniture repair, and home inspection.