YP(SM) App Allows Smartphone Users to Search by Menu Item

GLENDALE, Calif., May 7, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- The latest YP(SM) app is the first to give smartphone users an easy way to search for the dish they want to eat in the quest to find the best local restaurant choices.  Whether the "best" option is simply the closest seafood restaurant or somewhere that specifically serves up lobster rolls, the YP(SM) app offers users the information they need to make a decision. There are over 13,000,000+ menu items from 300,000+ restaurants accessible on the app.

The app's restaurant experience encourages food-finding by menu item, price, ambiance, cuisine, user ratings & reviews, photos, discounts, open hours, and other must-know business details, to help users discover the best restaurant that suits their tastes. The intuitive new menu item search feature builds on the menu content that was added to the app earlier this year, making it much easier to narrow in on businesses serving a specific dish[i].

With hundreds of thousands of menu views each week, the YP(SM) app knows that when hunger sets in, there's no time to wade through user reviews or irrelevant search results.

"We believe local is evolving from 'search' to a deeper experience that's helpful in actually making a decision," said David Williams, VP of Consumer Products at AT&T Interactive. "Adding menu item search is a simple, yet powerful new option for smartphone users. It empowers them to express what they're looking for and leads them to restaurants offering what they crave."

"This is the first mobile app to use our restaurant menu content and empower the user to search at the dish level, getting them one step closer to a merchant's doorstep," said Wiley Cerilli, CEO at SinglePlatform. "With the YP team, we're making finding food extremely simple and giving restaurants another way to connect with customers hungry for what they have to offer."

Restaurants, Gas Prices and More
The YP(SM) app is available for free across the web (m.yp.com) and all major mobile platforms across smartphones and tablets.  The new menu search feature is currently available for select smartphones.

Menu item search joins other popular features including:

• Search over 18M businesses across the U.S.
• View photos, open hours and details for thousands local businesses.
• Register for a YP(SM) account with Facebook Connect to submit reviews and upload photos.
• Find cheap gas nearby at a glance.
• Save money with access to thousands of local coupons.
• Rate your dining experience: food, service, and ambiance.

Still hungry for more? Take a look at these tasty tips:

• 10 Inventive Veggie Dishes
• 10 Dishes You Must Try
• Daredevil Dishes
• Top Celebrity Restaurants

About SinglePlatform
SinglePlatform, the world's largest online provider of restaurant menus and local business storefronts, enables local businesses to publish information like their products, services, menus, photos, and prices, across thousands of the most popular media companies, search engines, mobile applications, travel guides, and local review sites. Founded in 2010 by Wiley Cerilli, a former founding partner and EVP of SeamlessWeb, SinglePlatform was named by Bloomberg BusinessWeek as one of "America's Most Promising Startups of 2011".

For more information please visit www.singleplatform.com.

About AT&T Interactive
AT&T Interactive, a subsidiary of AT&T Inc., is an industry leader in creating local search products that encourage consumers to discover and engage with local businesses across three screens - online, mobile, and IPTV. YP.com, AT&T Interactive's flagship web property, attracts over 30 million monthly online unique visitors(1). YP.com is also accessed by millions of users each month via the mobile web. AT&T Interactive consumer apps have a pre-activation presence or have been downloaded through digital app stores on over 40 million mobile phones(2). AT&T Interactive local search also offers people search through their YP.com and AnyWho.com properties which, through a third party provider, feature both reverse phone lookup and white pages search.

The YP Local Ad Network helps advertisers grow their business and distributes ads to a distinguished list of top publishers whose presence spans online, mobile and IPTV. AT&T Interactive's wide range of local ad products such as premium listings, performance-based advertising, and search engine marketing provides advertisers an opportunity to increase their presence among consumers who are looking for a local business. 

AT&T Interactive products are supported by a sales force of more than 5,000 from AT&T Advertising Solutions and other resellers. To learn more visit www.adsolutions.att.com.

Keep tabs on YP products by liking YP on Facebook: www.facebook.com/YP or following @YP on Twitter.
 
(1) Source: AT&T Interactive internal data, March 2012
(2) Source: AT&T Mobility and AT&T Interactive internal data

About AT&T
AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) is a premier communications holding company and one of the most honored companies in the world. Its subsidiaries and affiliates - AT&T operating companies - are the providers of AT&T services in the United States and around the world. With a powerful array of network resources that includes the nation's fastest mobile broadband network, AT&T is a leading provider of wireless, Wi-Fi, high speed Internet, voice and cloud-based services. A leader in mobile broadband and emerging 4G capabilities, AT&T also offers the best wireless coverage worldwide of any U.S. carrier, offering the most wireless phones that work in the most countries.  It also offers advanced TV services under the AT&T U-verse® and AT&T | DIRECTV brands. The company's suite of IP-based business communications services is one of the most advanced in the world. In domestic markets, AT&T Advertising Solutions and AT&T Interactive are known for their leadership in local search and advertising. 

Additional information about AT&T Inc. and the products and services provided by AT&T subsidiaries and affiliates is available at http://www.att.com.  This AT&T news release and other announcements are available at http://www.att.com/newsroom and as part of an RSS feed at www.att.com/rss. Or follow our news on Twitter at @ATT.

(C) 2012 AT&T Intellectual Property. All rights reserved. Mobile broadband not available in all areas. AT&T, the AT&T logo and all other marks contained herein are trademarks of AT&T Intellectual Property and/or AT&T affiliated companies. All other marks contained herein are the property of their respective owners.

[i] Search results for menu item searches will be limited to restaurants with menus provided to SinglePlatform. Users have the option to search outside of this set of restaurants using the YP app.

SOURCE AT&T Interactive