Spot Runner announced today that it has chosen Yodle as its official local online ad partner. This will bring Yodle’s local search marketing products (local SEM reseller) into Spot Runner’s existing ad bundles.

The deal is also about local reach. Spot Runner deals mostly with national accounts and this is meant to provide more access to the SMB market, which Yodle has historically targeted. According to the release, this will involve several franchise accounts, which Yodle now service.

Spot Runner has a proven interest in the SMB market, given the locally targeted nature of a lot of its ad products, including video. The capability to sell to and service the SMB segment was behind its March 2008 acquisition of Weblistic, the assets of which were later dissolved for economic reasons.

The Yodle deal represents Spot Runner’s revisit to more direct SMB ad services, sales and support — this time partnering rather than buying. This could prove to be a prudent choice, given Yodle’s assets and abilities to reach the SMB segment.

“This is a win for both Spot Runner and Yodle,” Yodle CEO Court Cunningham told us this morning. “The deal will allow Spot Runner to focus on enhancing its Malibu Media Platform and will help Yodle to continue to build market leadership. This is a key milestone.”

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