Advertising revenues from print Yellow Pages, internet Yellow Pages (IYP) and local search will grow from $30.6 billion in 2006 to $38.9 billion globally in 2011 – a 4.9% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) – according to The Kelsey Group’s Global Directories Forecast 2007, issued in March.
The print Yellow Pages segment of the global directories marketplace is forecast to grow from $26.5 billion in 2006 to $27.8 billion in 2011 (0.9% CAGR), “bucking the the trend of some other traditional media [and] driven by aggressive and innovative publishers,” according to Charles Laughlin, SVP and program director, The Kelsey Report.
The online segment, which comprises IYP and local search advertising, is expected to grow from $4.1 billion in 2006 to $11.1 billion globally in 2011 (22.3% CAGR).
“Increasing SEM prices, and the resulting margin compression, are causing resellers and aggregator sales channels to invest heavily in SEO platforms,” said Matt Booth, SVP and program director, Interactive Local Media, The Kelsey Group.
“Yellow Pages publishers with deployed sales forces are positioning to bring more advertisers and content to the local search experience as a means to control more of the digital economics.”
