Amazon's search outlet A9 has launched a new yellow pages services that lets shoppers view pictures of the shop they are looking for.

The fun of looking at pictures of the grocery shop around the corner wore off pretty quickly for me, but Amazon's new service does have potential for sure. For starters it offers a "Click to Call" button that allows web visitors to talk with a representative from the store over the phone for free. Once traffic picks up, Amazon can start charging the shop (advertiser) for such a service.

And while looking at pictures from your desk might seem rather useless, having that picture available on your mobile phone when you are desperately looking for a location makes it a lot more appealing.

Lastly throw in some of Amazon's unique features that have made is such a great webstore: customer reviews and referral services that tell you that shoppers who went to this store, also visited such and so. Suddenly it all starts coming together.

28 Jan 2005