Just saw this Associated Press article that indicates a compromise may be in the offing to get the AT&T-BellSouth merger approved. The deal had been held up by the objections of Democrats on the Federal Communications Commission. The agreement may lead to approval of the merger as early as this week.

Once it happens, the merger will create in its wake a US$5.8 billion directory publishing company by combining AT&T Directory Operations and BellSouth Advertising & Publishing Group.

Gary Price reports (via Search Engine Land) that “Google” has ranked second in Merriam-Webster’s Word of the Year survey. The ranking pertains to the use of Google as a verb (i.e., to “Google” someone or something). Stephen Colbert’s “truthiness” took the top spot.

This shows yet again how Google is not only an online powerhouse but also a cultural phenomenon whose name has gone beyond tech buzzwordage to seep into our everyday language. Here is an interesting New York Times archived column (reg. req.) from famed linguist and author Geoffrey Nunberg on this subject.

Barry Schwartz over at Search Engine Land points to an interesting St. Louis Post Dispatch article about the software and development processes from the likes of Navteq that sit underneath Google Maps, Yahoo! Maps, MapQuest and others. It’s an interesting look at a part of the equation that we rarely examine  including challenges like updating road construction information.

One interesting challenge that we’ve explored in the past is known as the “last block problem”: mapping software extrapolates an address’ location within a block based on its number, but doesn’t definitively know exactly where it is. This must be solved before online mapping reaches the next stage in its evolution and an increased level of granularity. User participation (businesses that can specify their own exact locations) is one way to approach this problem.

Check out the article and our mapping Advisory from earlier this year, Maps: Where Are We Now, Where Are We Going?

PaidContent reports that Jupitermedia has acquired online tech job Web site JustTechJobs.com, signifying a possible move into online classified verticals. It’s not completely clear whether this is a strategic acquisition or a financially driven one (paidContent suggests the latter), although fodder for speculation is present. Feel free to weigh in.

With little time to spare in the current year, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission has approved the merger of AT&T and BellSouth. This clears the way for the creation of a US$5.8 billion directory publishing entity, which will cover much of the United States and control YellowPages.com under a single roof, rather than the joint venture structure operating today.

We will have more coverage of this merger after the new year. In the meantime, Happy New Year to all.

Things continue to heat up in the world of triple play. AT&T last week announced that it will begin to roll out its U-verse (IPTV, wireless, data and voice bundle) package on a limited basis in the San Francisco Bay Area. It also announced that it will scale back its initial rollout plans, a move that has raised some questions. Meanwhile, GigaOM provides a by-the-numbers report indicating that Verizon is pulling ahead of AT&T in the triple-play race.

Verizon this week also revealed plans to market its FiOS IPTV service in retail outlets in shopping centers. The 5,000-square-foot stores, named Verizon Experience, will exhibit the qualities of its IPTV and other broadband-based services through product demos  no doubt using high-def flat panel displays and digital surround sound systems to wow consumers. Two stores have opened in Fairfax, Virginia, and Southlake, Texas (near Verizon’s most developed FiOS markets). Read the AP story (via paidContent).

On the cable end of things, Comcast put out a release this week saying that it will invest US$80,000 in the San Francisco Bay Area to work on its network infrastructure to increase broadband speeds (more from the San Francisco Chronicle). This is likely a response to AT&T’s recent moves into this market.

Retaining cable and broadband subscribers while continuing to gain voice and wireless customers (VoIP service via cable Internet) in this and other key markets will be a priority for Comcast. Cable and telcos will also continue to move into each others’ territories as the triple-play arms race moves forward in ‘07.

As we pointed out in a recent Advisory (“Triple and Quad Play: Who Will Win the Bundled Services Battle?”), this will have consumer retention benefits, but more importantly position providers to distribute content and advertising across a “continuity of services” product bundle, and across all the devices that will be the central media outlets of our lives.

The Washington Post reports that Google’s initial program to sell remnant newspaper ad inventory has been a considerable success thus far, and that it will expand the program.

This will be a key ingredient in Google’s overall plan to be a one-stop shop for advertising across many media. Bundling newspaper ad sales (along with radio, video and search) in AdSense will also help the company expand its addressable market to include businesses with traditional interest in these ad media.

Appealing to a wider audience of local and national advertisers will be a key strategy for all search engines. Yahoo! is moving in this direction with the ease of use and increased functionality of Panama, which hasn’t really had the time to prove itself yet. However, it will make itself known over the next few quarters with its traction in the marketplace.

Related: Editor and Publisher reports that The Wall Street Journal will be free in print and online on Jan. 2 in order to promote its redesign and its paid online access.

Following up on the post earlier this week about vertical search, here is a breakdown of the rise in usage of real estate Web sites from the Pew Internet & American Life Project (via eMarketer).

The Small Business Administration has released its annual report on the small business economy. According to the SBA, a new high was reached in 2005 of 25.85 million small businesses in operation. More from Inc.com.

We got this press release today from YellowPages.com announcing it has added a “send-to-mobile” feature that enables users to text a search result to their mobile phones for future use.

The press release illustrates the feature’s utility with the example of texting a taxi service phone number to one’s mobile in advance of some New Year’s Eve revelry.

On that note, here’s to a happy and safe New Year’s.