The local office of search engine operator Yahoo! is offering a Yahoo! Advantage Internet Café program to help drive consumer awareness and reward Internet café owners as they build a loyal customer base and grow their business.

The Yahoo! Advantage web site for the Philippines is at www.yahoo.com.ph/iCafé and membership is free.  Internet cafés from across the Philippines are eligible to join via the online site and start benefiting from the program, Yahoo! Philippines officials said.

Yahoo! Philippines general manager Jojo Ańonuevo said Internet cafés that join the Yahoo! Advantage program will receive a program welcome kit, be promoted in the café listings, access the community of other Internet café owners, receive merchandise software, updates and downloads, as  well as participate in cobranding events with Yahoo! and partners.

Ańonuevo also said Yahoo! and Level Up! Games have affirmed their intention to work together to build the network. 

Both companies intend to help Internet café businesses through loyalty programs and incentives as well as to support the need for more locally-relevant Internet experiences for consumers and business growth opportunities for Internet café owners in the country.

“The Philippines is a fast-moving Internet-savvy society and iCafes are critical onramps for new Internet users,” Ańonuevo said. “The partnership with Level Up! allows us to reach out to iCafé owners to help them grow their business while making Yahoo!’s web sites the essential starting point for even more online Pinoys,” Ańonuevo added.

The announcement comes in the wake of Yahoo!’s pilot program in the Philippines, which was launched in September 2007.  The initial phase saw Yahoo! invest in 11 Internet cafés in Manila.

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Local Yahoo! unit launches Internet café program

The local office of search engine operator Yahoo! is offering a Yahoo! Advantage Internet Café program to help drive consumer awareness and reward Internet café owners as they build a loyal customer base and grow their business.

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