Yellow Pages Industry Association Changes Name To Focus On “Local Search”

After months of deliberation the Yellow Pages Association has changed its name and brand identity to the “Local Search Association.” The name change reflects the transformation of yellow pages organizations from publishers of primarily print directories to multi-platform providers of leads, calls and clicks to local businesses.

The organization is also reaching out to new constituencies that surround the yellow pages and local search industries. New members of the expanded trade association include CityGrid, MerchEngines, Kudzu, Telnic Limited, Kenshoo, Thrive Analytics, deCarta, dotMobi, VendAsta Technologies and NO PROBLEM.

The LSA has members in the US, Canada and around the globe. The name and directional shift could spawn a comparable move from the European yellow pages association, the European Association of Directory Publishers (EADP).

The LSA was originally founded in 1975 as the “National Yellow Pages Service Association” and has had a couple of brand changes in between. This is the first time that “yellow pages” has been removed from the name however.

The organization will focus on local search, mobile and social platforms and is almost unique in this cross-platform approach (most industry associations are platform specific: print, radio, TV, online). It will be interesting to see how the new LSA serves the both the interests of traditional publishers and younger digital-only companies that often compete against them.