BIA/Kelsey Forecasts Digital Offerings to Account for 39% of Global Yellow Pages Revenues by 2014

CHANTILLY, Va., July 13 /PRNewswire/ -- Digital offerings, such as online Yellow Pages, video, SEM/SEO, mobile, social and reputation management, will account for 39 percent of global Yellow Pages revenues by 2014, according to the mid-year update to BIA/Kelsey's Annual Global Yellow Pages Forecast (2009-2014). The anticipated growth in digital offerings will be a focus of the agenda at BIA/Kelsey's upcoming Directional Media Strategies 2010 (DMS '10: Yellow Pages and Beyond) conference (www.kelseygroup.com/dms2010), which takes place Sept. 14-16 in Dallas.

According to the forecast, the growth in digital offerings is occurring globally, although at varied rates and with a different emphasis in regions around the world. Digital trends highlighted in the forecast include:

• U.S. – Digital revenues in the United States will grow at a 17.2 percent compound annual growth rate (CAGR) as the result of publishers selling a wider array of digital products. BIA/Kelsey expects strong growth from some of the more established digital offerings, including Web sites, SEM and video. Growth will be even more robust in newer categories such as reputation management, SEO, social and mobile.
• Europe – Digital revenues will surpass print revenues across Europe by 2014, and even sooner in several markets, including Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Belgium and France.
• Latin America – BIA/Kelsey estimates that in 2009 digital accounted for 6.2 percent of total revenues and will grow to 11.8 percent by 2014.
• Asia/Pacific Rim/ROW – Online directory revenues in Asia, Pacific Rim and rest of world (ROW) will grow by US$446 million during the forecast period, a 12.8 percent CAGR. Many emerging markets in the region, including China, are not expected to follow a traditional directory path, from print to online and eventually to mobile. Rather, directional media will follow a pattern that is more vertical and mobile in nature, bypassing print and Internet Yellow Pages as a significant product category.

"We expect to see certain publishers outperforming our forecast," said Charles Laughlin, BIA/Kelsey senior vice president, program director and DMS '10 conference chairman. "Their ability to do so depends on the economy and their efforts to transition into more nimble, performance-based sales organizations. Improving customer satisfaction and retention is key to this success. We'll focus on both at DMS '10 in September."

Digital Trends at DMS '10: Yellow Pages and Beyond

Directional Media Strategies 2010 (DMS '10: Yellow Pages and Beyond) is BIA/Kelsey's 31st conference dedicated to the future of the Yellow Pages industry. For the second consecutive year, BIA/Kelsey is partnering with the Yellow Pages Association (YPA) to bring this event to the widest and most diverse audience of senior executives from across the global directional media industry. DMS '10 will present a vision of what the industry will look like five years from now and beyond. Sessions will drill deeply into the drivers of the Yellow Pages business in the future, with a focus on the building blocks of a diversified operation.

The DMS '10 program will feature more than 20 timely and topical sessions, including:

• Yellow Pages, Local Search and the Path to New Digital Revenues
• The iPad — A Game Changer for Directories and Local Search?
• Ins and Outs of Reputation Management — The Next Wave of SMB Support
• Mobile Yellow Pages Leaves the Laboratory
• Social Media + Yellow Pages = A New Lease on Life?
• Leads-Based Selling: Salvation or False Hope?
• Engagement Drivers for Online Yellow Pages
• Self-Service — It's Closer Than You Think

Conference sponsors include 3L System Group, Acxiom, AgendiZe, Amdocs, AT&T Interactive, Cellcity, Kenshoo Local, Local.com, Localeze, MerchEngines, Telmetrics, Shooger, Universal Business Listing and WebsPlanet. Association partners are Association of Directory Publishers (ADP), Great Outdoor Network (GON), International Classified Media Association (ICMA), NAB Show and Yellow Pages Association (YPA). The conference media partner is YP Talk. For more information regarding DMS '10, visit www.kelseygroup.com/DMS2010.  

About BIA/Kelsey

BIA/Kelsey advises companies in the local media space through consulting and valuation services, research, Continuous Advisory Services and conferences. Since 1983 BIA/Kelsey has been a resource to the media, mobile advertising, telecommunications, Yellow Pages and electronic directory markets, as well as to government agencies, law firms and investment companies looking to understand trends and revenue drivers. BIA/Kelsey's annual conferences draw executives from across industries seeking expert guidance on how companies are finding innovative ways to grow. Additional information is available at www.bia.com and www.kelseygroup.com. The company's blogs are located at http://blog.bia.com/bia/ and http://blog.kelseygroup.com/, and it can be found on Twitter through http://twitter.com/BIAKelsey.

SOURCE BIA/Kelsey