he recent agreement between Google and BellSouth�s online Yellow Pages unit, RealPages.com in the US, marks a new era of cooperation between two previously warring advertising competitors. BellSouth will use Google�s technology and its already-existing local search service. Google will use BellSouth�s broad consumer reach.

There is a growing industry belief that consumers have become so used to the Web and Google as a daily research tool that they are ready to use it to find what they need from their local retailers. There are 20 million small- and medium-sized businesses in the US, but they spend 46 per cent of their advertising budgets on yellow pages, and only 3 per cent on search engine keywords, according to the Kelsey Group, a market research and consulting firm specialising in local advertising. Still, 61 per cent of them see the Internet as an important marketing vehicle. And the local search market is the next great Internet frontier - expected to grow from $1 billion in 2003 to $2.5 billion by 2008, says Kelsey�s research.... more