Tuesday, February 18, 2014

Marchex: Spam Calls Killing Small Business Productivity

Seattle-based Marchex, which provides mobile ad technology, says that it's taking aim at telemarketers with a system to block telemarketers from using its phone numbers. According to Marchex, it recently ran a study which tabulates the amount small businesses lose each year in productivity to half a billion dollars each year, due to telemarketing and other unwanted calls. The company said businesses are particularly susceptible since they are not included in the federal government's National Do Not Call Registry. Marchex said it is now specifically using technology it calls "Clean Call" to detect and block telemarketers, robocallers, and other spam dialers looking to snag business phone numbers from its systems. Marchex helps advertise businesses to consumers, directing them through dedicated phone numbers. The company did not elaborate on how its technology blocks those spam callers.