InfoSpace, an Internet search and directory company, announced on Friday that it would be acquiring rival Switchboard. The terms of the acquisition are for $160 million, with the deal expected to be complete by the end of 2004.
Switchboard is a leading provider of local online advertising products for merchants and national advertisers, enabled by innovative, consumer-oriented, online yellow and white pages directory technology.
InfoSpace Search & Directory also offers a yellow and white-pages search designed to provide users with ability to search locally. The purchase of Switchboard will give InfoSpace 23% of the yellow-page search traffic, according to research firm comScore/Media Metrix.
With the demand for local search growing, this deal should give InfoSpace a sturdy foothold. As Yahoo, Google and the other search giant’s effort to include local search into their respective engines, InfoSpace has taken measures to ensure it is a player in the fight for local search traffic.
Jim Voelker, chairman and chief executive officer of InfoSpace, Inc., said, “we are excited to take a defining step in the growing local search and directory opportunity. Through this acquisition, we nearly double our share of online directory traffic, gain a proven technology platform and add several new and important partner relationships.”
Murdok | Breaking eBusiness News
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