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Local Search Threatens The Yellow Pages
By WebProNews
Staff Writer
Article Date: 2004-03-08
Alan Meckler, Chairman and CEO of Jupiter Media and creator of Internet.com, spoke at the Search Engine Strategies conference in New York this week.
Through the years Meckler has acquired over 250 companies and websites. He has lots of smaller information vehicles in a network of larger websites.
During the "Swimming with the Sharks: VCs and Investment Bankers" session, Meckler said search has only reached the first base of what it could potentially become.
There remain many vertical opportunities that could be worth millions for small companies.
He says search is one of the few surviving vertical slices of the Internet boom of the 1990s. During the boom, he said young business owners "forgot to remember that money is the most important product."
He also mentioned the threat of local search to the Yellow Pages. The Yellow Pages are a household word but now local search is becoming a growing threat to publishers as more and more people find phone numbers online.
When asked how to determine whether to seek venture capital or just grow a business organically, Meckler replied that business owners must consider someone looking over their shoulders. Accepting venture capital means that they would give up abosolute control.
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