Yellowpages.com: Difference between revisions
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Initially shunned by all of the Regional Bell Operating Companies (RBOC's) as [[NYNEX]] operated 'bigyellow' and GTE operated 'SuperPages', Yellowpages.com continued to grow and offer advertising listings on the internet 24/7 rather than in a locally distributed book. Years later SBC added 'smartpages' and Bell South added 'therealyellowpages' to search directories available on the internet. In 1997, [[Ameritech]] led a consortium to make an initial offer to purchase YellowPages.com from the founders. The Founders declined to sell and continued funding the Company internally. |
Initially shunned by all of the Regional Bell Operating Companies (RBOC's) as [[NYNEX]] operated 'bigyellow' and GTE operated 'SuperPages', Yellowpages.com continued to grow and offer advertising listings on the internet 24/7 rather than in a locally distributed book. Years later SBC added 'smartpages' and Bell South added 'therealyellowpages' to search directories available on the internet. In 1997, [[Ameritech]] led a consortium to make an initial offer to purchase YellowPages.com from the founders. The Founders declined to sell and continued funding the Company internally. |
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VC's spurned the Company, convinced that Alta Vista and Yahoo would dominate the local search space. The Founders were able to attract its first round of funding from high net worth individuals in 1998. Following that funding, Madsen, then interim CEO led a search for a permanent CEO. In 1999, a controlling interest in the Company was acquired by newly formed GlobalGate LLC, a start up interactive accelerator founded by the permanent CEO of YellowPages.com, and formed to invest in other startups to service YellowPages.com. GlobalGate moved the headquarters to San Francisco in an attempt to garner much needed attention in the online media and advertising space. |
VC's spurned the Company, convinced that Alta Vista and Yahoo would dominate the local search space. The Founders were able to attract its first round of funding from high net worth individuals in 1998. Following that funding, Madsen, then interim CEO led a search for a permanent CEO. In 1999, a controlling interest in the Company was acquired by newly formed GlobalGate LLC, a start up interactive accelerator founded by the permanent CEO of YellowPages.com, and formed to invest in other startups to service YellowPages.com. GlobalGate moved the headquarters to San Francisco in an attempt to garner much needed attention in the online media and advertising space. |
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In 2000, following the collapse of venture funding, GlobalGate, who had exhausted the Company's original funding and was unable to provide more capital, agreed to resell the Company to a group headed by Founders Madsen (CEO) and Povondra (Executive Vice President, Data). The recapitalization was provided by the original investor group who continued to fund the Company until its acqusition in late 2004 by a Joint Venture of [[SBC Communications]] (now owners of [[Ameritech]], [[Pacific Telesis]], [[Southern New England Telecommunications|SNET]]) and [[BellSouth]]. |
In 2000, following the collapse of venture funding, GlobalGate, who had exhausted the Company's original funding and was unable to provide more capital, agreed to resell the Company to a group headed by Founders Madsen (CEO) and Povondra (Executive Vice President, Data). The recapitalization was provided by the original investor group who continued to fund the Company until its acqusition in late 2004 by a Joint Venture of [[SBC Communications]] (now owners of [[Ameritech]], [[Pacific Telesis]], [[Southern New England Telecommunications|SNET]]) and [[BellSouth]]. |
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Revision as of 17:07, 24 October 2007
| File:Yellowpages logo2.gif | |
| Company type | Subsidiary of AT&T |
|---|---|
| Industry | Directory Publishing |
| Founded | 1996 |
| Headquarters | U.S. |
| Parent | C. Ronald Oister, etc. (1996-2005) SBC/AT&T (2005-2006, 60%; 2006-present, wholly-owned) BellSouth (2005-2006, 40%) |
| Website | www.yellowpages.com |
Yellowpages.com is an Internet Web site operated by YELLOWPAGES.COM LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of AT&T.[1].
History
Yellowpages.com began on April 6,1996 when C. Ronald Oister, Bill Povondra, and Dane Madsen purchased the name from the NIC (now Network Solutions). The previous owners of the domain had allowed the registration to lapse. The Company was incorporated in Nevada in 1996.
Initially shunned by all of the Regional Bell Operating Companies (RBOC's) as NYNEX operated 'bigyellow' and GTE operated 'SuperPages', Yellowpages.com continued to grow and offer advertising listings on the internet 24/7 rather than in a locally distributed book. Years later SBC added 'smartpages' and Bell South added 'therealyellowpages' to search directories available on the internet. In 1997, Ameritech led a consortium to make an initial offer to purchase YellowPages.com from the founders. The Founders declined to sell and continued funding the Company internally.
VC's spurned the Company, convinced that Alta Vista and Yahoo would dominate the local search space. The Founders were able to attract its first round of funding from high net worth individuals in 1998. Following that funding, Madsen, then interim CEO led a search for a permanent CEO. In 1999, a controlling interest in the Company was acquired by newly formed GlobalGate LLC, a start up interactive accelerator founded by the permanent CEO of YellowPages.com, and formed to invest in other startups to service YellowPages.com. GlobalGate moved the headquarters to San Francisco in an attempt to garner much needed attention in the online media and advertising space.
In 2000, following the collapse of venture funding, GlobalGate, who had exhausted the Company's original funding and was unable to provide more capital, agreed to resell the Company to a group headed by Founders Madsen (CEO) and Povondra (Executive Vice President, Data). The recapitalization was provided by the original investor group who continued to fund the Company until its acqusition in late 2004 by a Joint Venture of SBC Communications (now owners of Ameritech, Pacific Telesis, SNET) and BellSouth.
Both sites' operations (SMARTpages and RealYellowPages) were merged into Yellowpages.com in 2005. As a result of SBC Communications' merger with AT&T, the post merger AT&T wholly owned an additional telephone directory website AnyWho.com. AnyWho.com, though owned by AT&T Knowledge Ventures, was never merged into Yellowpages.com due to stake conflicts with BellSouth. The acquisition of BellSouth by AT&T on December 29, 2006 lead to both companies being wholly owned.
External links
- Yellowpages.com
- AT&T and BellSouth Join to Create a Premier Global Communications Company, AT&T News Room, December 29, 2006
