The proliferation of Internet search engines is likely to help the growth of Yellow Pages companies rather than compete by providing much of the same information, the chief executive of the nation’s fourth-largest directory company said Tuesday.
George Burnett, president and chief executive of Dex Media Inc., said during an industry conference that Internet portals such as Yahoo and Google can serve as supplements or even partners to the information available in the Yellow Pages books sitting on shelves in millions of consumers’ homes.
The way companies such as Arapahoe County-based Dex Media work with Internet search engines will determine their success, he said in an interview after a speech at the Directory Driven Commerce conference sponsored by the Kelsey Group, an independent analysis company.
“There are a lot of major trends that could create a rising tide,” Burnett said. “It’s how well we leverage that and take actions on those things that will determine our success.”
Burnett refused to comment on a recent Wall Street Journal report that Dex was in negotiations to be acquired by Cary, N.C.-based R.H. Donnelley, the nation’s fifth-largest Yellow Pages company. He said company policy prohibits commenting on market rumors. Donnelley officials also have declined to comment.
