Does Microsoft Want Yell?
Reuters is reporting a rumor that Microsoft CEO Steve Balmer has set his sights on Yell Group as his next acquisition target, which has led to a bump in Yell's share price. We don't know if this is true. It is,…
AgendiZe Brings ‘Contact Widgets’ to Local Listings
Local search software developer AgendiZe will announce an expanded partnership with Canada's Yellow Pages Group that will position new "contact widgets" throughout YPG's listings. The widgets will be available at an undisclosed point, likely in the next couple weeks. This…
Internet Yellow Pages Socialize
Canadian IYP Yellowpages.ca announced a Facebook application that lets users of the social network tap into local listings and share recommendations with friends. This includes (according to release): Find, rate and review businesses Build lists of their favorite restaurants and…
More From Seat on Future Strategy
More detail has come out on Seat Pagine Gialle’s proposed sale of its foreign properties. The goal, according to an interview with Reuters, is “to shift its attention back to Italy to mine a boom in Internet use in the…
Yell Cites Tough Times in Dividend Cut
Yell Group announced results today that showed all its operating groups generated top-line growth in its 2007-08 financial year (ended March 31), with almost all the growth coming from the Internet. The company emphasized that it hit its EBITDA guidance for…
Local Matters Lands European Directories
Denver-based Local Matters announced a major deal with European Directories "whereby Local Matters will develop and enhance the online white and yellow pages websites across European Directories’ 8-country publishing operations," according to the press release issued today. European Directories is a…
Yell Launches Media Portal
U.K. directory publisher Yell has launched a new Web site designed to help agencies and media buyers evaluate its multichannel products. Yell additionally has dedicated a team of specialists to work directly with agencies. Large accounts are widely viewed as a channeling…
RHD Gets Bump From 1Q Results
Like Idearc Media earlier this week, R.H. Donnelley received a boost in its share price today after unveiling first-quarter results that showed market conditions are about as bad as expected, but not any worse. The company also unveiled a refinancing plan that…
Evans on Verticals and Yellow Pages
Perry Evans has a great post today on the opportunity and threat Yellow Pages publishers face from the verticalization of local search. We thank him for acknowledging TKG's role in highlighting the emergence of vertical search at our Drilling Down on…
You Ain’t Seen Nothin’ Yet
The final day of The Kelsey Group's Drilling Down on Local conference featured a keynote by Merrill Brown of MMB Media. Brown is an industry guru with a history of developing groundbreaking media strategies and operations. Among other things, he…
Selling SEM to SMBs: Service Must Come With Sale
Elizabeth Gage of PCM International posted a well thought out blog on the challenges small and medium-sized businesses face when purchasing search engine marketing campaigns, either on their own or through Yellow Page publishers. After reading her thoughts on the…
Idearc Gets Boost From Q1 Results
At this writing, Idearc Media's stock was trading higher (up about 28 percent at noon Eastern) after an earnings announcement that shows the company has managed its costs well enough to grow EBITDA, while its revenues continued to slide. Here…
New Look, New Campaign From Yellowbook
Yellowbook has unveiled a new television ad campaign, replacing the kinda cheesy Kung Fu ads (sorry, David Carradine, you did what you could) with a much slicker campaign that focuses on promoting use of Yellowbook's online directory (which is also sporting…
On the Leading (Bleeding?) Edge With Verticals
The first day of the Kelsey Drilling Down on Local conference included a somewhat unusual panel with four entrepreneurs in verticals. They talked about the nuts and bolts of building truly local verticals. These vertical pioneers shared their war stories…
Yellowbook.com’s Pat Marshall Talks Partnerships
In an executive interview today with the "Father of IYP," Pat Marshall, Yellow Book's chief new media officer talked about his re-entrance to the IYP space and what Yellow Book is looking for new business partners. In all fairness, Marshall,…
Alibaba: China’s Genie in a Bottle
Alibaba is China’s answer to Google and Yahoo!. The online site is 39 percent owned by Yahoo and recently entered a strategic partnership with Infomedia, the second-largest Yellow Pages publisher in India. The agreement with Infomedia provides Alibaba access to…
Eniro to Be an Online First Business in 2008
The Nordic directory publisher Eniro announced somewhat disappointing results for the first quarter, with weaker than expected print results not fully offset by online revenues. Eniro President and CEO Tomas Franzén noted that the first quarter is seasonally weak for its online…
Day to Give Up CEO Post, Assume Truvo Chair
Truvo announced today that CEO Andrew Day will step down June 1 and assume the role of chairman, allowing current Truvo Belgium Managing Director Donat Retif to take over as CEO. Retif has been with Truvo since 2005. He previously served…
White Beefs Up Management Team
The U.S. independent publisher White Directory has added two new members to its sales leadership team. Kevin Pavelski, vice president of digital expansion, and Pat Balles, vice president of global markets. From the press release: "Pavelski comes to White…
Stubbs Departs Yellowpages.com
Charles Stubbs has left his position as president of Yellowpages.com (a unit of AT&T) to become CEO of Atlanta-based Primedia, which publishes a variety of print and online vertical consumer guides, including Apartment Guide and New Home Guide, ApartmentGuide.com, NewHomeGuide.com…