A few years ago, the location of businesses became a big question mark, as well as a strategic issue, as people wanted to shop or dine nearby. These “geo-fencing” issues were especially important for Yellow Pages companies.
Since then, search has become more the norm, along with GPS-based phones, which have location baked into them. What …

AT&T Interactive is launching a contest today to encourage online and mobile application developers to use its APIs to build new uses for local business data. ATTi is trying to tap into the collective creativity and brainpower of the developer community to extent the reach of its online and mobile advertisers.
ATTI’s main products are its …

We reported at the end of the year that Yell is moving in a new strategic direction. This week, the Yellow Pages publisher announced the appointment of Matt Anderson as its new chief strategy and business development officer. Anderson has previous experience as a partner in the consumer media and digital division of Booz & …

The Sweden-based local search company Eniro has acquired some of the assets of De Gule Sider in Denmark, the Yellow Pages operation closed down recently by European Directories.
EDSA has made the decision to discontinue print directories in Denmark, where it held the incumbent position, while selling many of its online/mobile assets to Eniro. Among the …

The European directory and local search operator Truvo has taken major steps toward consolidating around its flagship Belgian operation. On Dec. 22, Truvo “divested” its operation in Ireland, selling it to Contact Holdings, which operates Yellow Pages companies in the Baltic States. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Truvo has also dramatically curtailed its senior …

Heavily leveraged Yell Group has earned some breathing room from a deal with its lenders announced yesterday. Yell announced that it has reached terms with the “overwhelming majority of lenders” to increase the headroom on its debt. Without such concessions, Yell was at risk of violating the covenants, which require the company to stay within a …

Local Search Association President Neg Norton announced today at ILM West in San Francisco that the trade group would work with BIA/Kelsey to produce its annual conference, April 21-24 in Boca Raton, Florida.
Norton said the LSA is committed to developing a robust agenda for the April conference. He cited this as a key reason for working …

Dex One Chief Strategy Officer David Sharman shared with us today some of the key challenges the longtime traditional directory publisher is facing as it evolves its business into the digital world. The primary challenge that he sees in the space is the overwhelming choice and complexity of marketing options for the local business.
Specifically for …

The Toronto-based call measurement firm Telmetrics today announced a major expansion of its business into Europe, launching its solution in 10 markets. The launch follows a six-month beta test in which Telmetrics proved out the value of its service for search engines, agencies, publishers and other local search providers.
Telmetrics has been provisioning call measurement services …

Seems every year is a year of transformation in the global Yellow Pages industry. This year is no different, with more leadership changes, financial turmoil, and a much more aggressive push into new strategies and new products. There is a growing sense that some directory publishers are turning in a direction where a return to …

Yellow Medya, formerly Turkey Yellow Pages, announced a partnership today with the world’s largest travel site, TripAdvisor, in Turkey. The Yellow Pages publisher will integrate TripAdvisor onto all its platforms, including online and mobile. As a result, it will have access to TripAdvisor reviews and opinions for accommodations, restaurants, attractions and all hospitality businesses currently …

Last week, Local Insight Media emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy, roughly one year after seeking protection from its creditors.
The company emerges from bankruptcy with a new structure, a new board of directors and a more manageable balance sheet, having eliminated 90 percent of its debt. The company is also adopting a familiar new name — …

A big chunk of the newspaper industry has banded together to adopt Find n Save, a shopping platform featuring a single place to review deals, product inventory, weekly specials, “cents off” grocery deals and local ads.
Participating newspaper companies include many of the companies participating in the Yahoo search and national advertising consortium and the Zillow …

In the wake of Groupon’s successful IPO, Angie’s List is apparently set to issue its own IPO on Thursday. The offering would raise up to $113 million for the Indianapolis-based company, which provides members-only reviews of services and medical providers. For us, the big question is whether consumers will continue to be willing …

Yellow Pages Group New Zealand is now the first Google AdWords Premier SME Partner in New Zealand after inking a deal last week. The partnership is designed to enhance YP NZ’s suite of digital marketing services.
“We need to transform and take our legacy print business to address customer needs in the digital environment,” CEO Scott …

PagesJaunes, the French directory publisher, recently announced the launch of 123deal in Italy, Germany and the U.K. The daily deals and local discounts portal and search engine is also available in France and Spain. The location-based search option allows users to locate categorized deals on an interactive map.
In the U.K., 123deal has 18 partners offering …

Last week several of the leading listed directory companies saw sizable spikes in their stock prices following their Q3 earnings announcements, though the surge seems to have died off today.
For example, Dex One announced its earnings on Nov. 3. On the call, CEO Alfred Mockett revealed that Dex will not achieve its previously stated goal of …

Yell announced this week that Microsoft MSN Partner and Producer Scott Moore will join Yell Group as its chief digital officer. Moore will report to Yell Group CEO Mike Pocock and will be based at a new Yell office in Seattle. Moore will lead the creation and development of Yell’s new products and services that …

Just before lunch at ILM Asia, Sidharth Gupta, CEO of Getit Infoservices, shared his company’s vision of the future. It was comprehensive and holistic.
In his talk, Gupta spoke of the evolution that is occurring around the world and in India as it relates to the directory space. Gupta’s vision embraces a much wider swath of …

Tele Directories, a Yellow Pages ad solutions provider, is set to launch its new local search directory for Brunei Yellow Pages, www.yp.com.bn, next week. The new site is based on the ImmersiFind 2.0 platform, an online directory search application that provides business listings and search results in a list or map view. Area residents and …