Marchex on Tuesay announced the launch of the Marchex Network, an advertising network featuring Marchex's more than 200,000 owned and operated websites, which attract tens of millions of unique users per month, according to the company (via MediaBuyerPlanner).

Advertisers can directly bid for placement on a CPC basis across Marchex's network of sites, based on designated keywords and categories. Examples of the targeted domains within the Marchex Network include www.debts.com, www.insuranceinformation.com, www.floral.com, www.videocamera.com and travel-related sites such as www.napavalleywine.com and www.californiadining.com.

According to a 2006 WebSideStory study, direct navigation traffic (when users type a domain or keyword directly into their browser bar or use a bookmark) converts at 4.23 percent on average, a higher rate than other sources, including search engines at 2.3 percent.