Jingle is the leader in ad-supported DA, with much greater awareness and usage than its competitors. But it faces stiff and deep-pocketed competition over the long term. Previously the company announced that it had “sold out” its sponsorship inventory. There are two interpretations of that event, both of which are true:

1. The company’s ad inventory is in demand
2. The company needs to find ways to generate more inventory and revenue

So the just-announced deal between Jingle’s 800-Free411 and Dial Directions helps solve two problems for Jingle:

1. It creates more ad inventory
2. It helps differentiate the product vs. competitors

After a Free411 lookup, users can simply ask to receive a text message with directions to their intended destination. An SMS message will be generated that provides new, contextual ad inventory for Jingle.

It’s going to roll out in March and be initially available in three cities (SF, LA and Chicago). But Dial Directions’ service is national so national coverage should roll out quickly after that.

In our recent mobile DA survey, 76% of respondents had never used one of the free DA alternatives, but among the 24% who had, Jingle was the leader:

• 1-800.Free411 – 66.2%
• 1.800.Goog411 – 5.5%
• 1.800.Call411 – 2.1%
• 1.800.YellowPages — 6.2%
• 1.800.555TELL – 2.8%
• Don’t know – 13.8%
• Other – 4.1%

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Dial Directions also has a deal with Ask for its WAP site.