Wednesday July 9th, 2025 8:45PM

BellSouth, SBC Communications purchase of YellowPages.com

By The Associated Press
<p>BellSouth Corp. and SBC Communications Inc. again are joining forces in an effort to lead the way in Internet-based phone directories, with a planned purchase of www.YellowPages.com, Inc., company officials said Thursday.</p><p>Atlanta-based BellSouth and San Antonio-based SBC, which previously created a joint venture with the cell phone company Cingular, have entered into another plan with their phone directory affiliates to purchase www.YellowPages.com.</p><p>The companies were expected to announce the sale Thursday afternoon, said BellSouth spokesman Jeff Battcher.</p><p>"This venture will help us better meet the needs of today's growing pool of Internet users who are looking for easy, accurate, local services," said Dennis M. Payne, SBC president and CEO, in a statement.</p><p>By purchasing the popular Internet search site, the two companies are targeting the increasing number of Internet-savvy customers who want to find phone numbers online for free rather than dial directory assistance for a fee. Advertisers also are noticing that trend and are buying both online and print media ads for phone directories.</p><p>The companies will be able to pool strong consumer traffic from www.YellowPages.com, SBC's SMARTpages.com and BellSouth's RealPages.com, Payne said.</p><p>Accuracy with online directories is key because many of the directories have been fraught with inaccuracies, said telecom analyst Jeff Kagan of Marietta, Ga.</p><p>That's because online companies, sometimes far removed from the phone companies that keep records of new listings or canceled numbers, don't always receive update information for months and even years, Kagan said.</p><p>The new www.YellowPages.com likely will have very accurate information because the Web site will be in the hands of the two phone companies and could create pressure for other online directories to try to increase the quality of their listings, the analyst said.</p><p>"It's a good idea," Kagan said. "I'm sure it will benefit Cingular. Not every phone company is going in that direction."</p><p>___</p><p>On the Net:</p><p>HASH(0x2865db0)</p><p>HASH(0x2864c28)</p><p>HASH(0x2864d0c)</p>
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