infoUSA To Acquire Direct Media

infoUSA this week announced that it signed a definitive agreement to acquire Greenwich, Conn.-based Direct Media, a company that offers list brokerage, list management, analytics, database marketing and data processing services.

infoUSA plans to retain Direct Media's workforce. In a statement announcing the deal, Vin Gupta, chairman and CEO of infoUSA said that the acquisition helps the company continue to pursue its strategy of consolidating the direct marketing industry.

Consolidation is certain the key word here. With similar companies, like Edith Roman Associates and Walter Karl, already in its stable, infoUSA is effectively further consolidating the direct marketing space with this latest buy.

All parties should benefit from the acquisition. Direct Media will be able to better serve its customers through the infoUSA resources it now gains. This will also give an instant boost to infoUSA's capabilities and will expand its customer base in the process.

The deal is expected to close next week. Look for the integration to be fairly quick as well. infoUSA is certainly a veteran when it comes to such acquisitions.

The Players Directory Expands into Australia

The Players Directory, a directory of talent geared toward a readership of casting directors, this week launched The Australian Players Directory. The print book will be distributed to casting professionals in the U.S. and Australia and help connect them to Australian actors.

In Los Angeles (where The Players Directory originates), the book will be sent to professionals included in the database of Ausfilm, a government-industry partnership that is comprised of all of Australia's State and Territory Screen Agencies, 40 private sector screen production service companies and Australia's federal government, through the Department of Communications, IT and the Arts (DCITA).

The new directory will also target to directors and producers.

The Players Directory's strategy here is quite unique. Expanding a product's presence from Los Angeles to Australia isn't a typical route for growth. In addition, launching a new directory in a print format is also not a typical launch strategy these days. Regardless, both of these strategies appear ideal for this particular market. Australia has been the home to many popular actors in recent years (such as Russell Crowe and Nicole Kidman) and it will likely yield future talent; and a print book is ideal for casting directors to tote to off-site meetings.

The Academy Players Directory was first published more than 70 years ago. This is clearly proof that this publisher understands its market's needs--and has been able to adapt to any changes to those needs. This new launch will likely continue to confirm that the publisher knows what its market wants and delivers it.

United Business Media Acquires Think Service

United Business Media plc announced this week that it acquired Think Service Inc. for its CMP Technology business for $24.5 million. Think Service is a membership, certification and training, and events company that serves IT service and support professionals. It also provides training and information to service desk (help desk) employees.

Think Service also operates an association for IT support professionals across the globe that serves about 7,000 members. It also hosts an annual conference and expo for the industry.

In a company statement announcing the deal, United Business Media noted that Think Service would complement CMP Technology's International Customer Management Institute (ICMI) business that was acquired in 2005. ICMI provides call center consulting, membership, certification and training, and events. Also in the statement, David Levin, CEO of United Business Media, noted that the deal was part of CMP's development in the global exhibition, training and consulting segment that serves the professional IT support market--a market in which CMP has noticed strong growth.

Think Service, along with ICMI, will certainly help CMP Technology (and United Business Media) truly position itself as more than a publisher. It makes the company more of a service provider and a consultant. CMP can provide content its customers need to succeed in this segment as well as the guidance that helps them put that information to use and make it more valuable. United Business Media's strategy to acquire companies like Think Service (which is essentially part publisher-part industry association) is a smart one. As we've said before, becoming an overall service provider is a great customer acquisition and retention strategy. The bond that CMP has with its market will undoubtedly be strengthened as a result of this relationship with Think Service.

Metaweb Secures Additional Funding

Metaweb Technologies last week announced that it received a $42.5 million investment led by Goldman Sachs Co. Metaweb, based in San Francisco, is currently building Freebase.com, an open, shared database in which data is freely accessible to users across the globe.

Metaweb's goal is to enable people to access information more quickly and easily than is currently possible. For the company to receive this funding is a big coup for Metaweb. It provides the company confirmation that its vision is a promising one that needs to be further explored and developed.

That vision of having a database of information freely available to users around the globe will certainly be beneficial to those information seekers. But it will be interesting to see what affect this will have on database publishers and other information publishers. The entire information industry needs to keep a close eye on Metaweb's progress; and at the same time, must continue to communicate the value of its own products.

Online Real Estate Companies Create New Standard Data Format

Online real estate companies Yahoo! Real Estate, Zillow.com and Trulia.com announced this month that they have adopted a new standard data format for the distribution of online real estate listings. By providing the one format, the companies hope to make distributing listings data easier for the real estate community comprised of real estate franchisors, brokers, multiple listing services and other listing providers.

The companies believe that the standard will help these real estate professionals reach consumers more quickly and efficiently, especially as more and more consumers are utilizing the Internet to search for homes. Other real estate sites that will adopt the new standard include Homes.com, Homescape, Oodle, Point2 Technologies, RealEstate.com, Vast.com and vFlyer.

According to a statement announcing the news, all of the companies will work with the Real Estate Standards Organization to ensure that the data interoperates with the Real Estate Transaction Standard (RETS). The data feed specification will be based on an XML format and will contain the typical components of a housing listing, such as address, price, square feet, beds, baths and additional descriptions of home features. The standard is expected to help real estate professional save time when creating online content. Before the standard was in place, they had to create about 12 different formats for one listing. The standard feed format is expected to launch later in 2008.

This seems like a great solution for all involved. All of the participating online real estate companies will likely receive more listings from real estate professionals as they recognize the ease in the standard will enable them to create listing content. An increase in listings will only help the online companies continue to build their credibility in the marketplace and possibly help the real estate professionals sell more properties as they increase the exposure of their listings across a myriad of sites.

It's interesting, however, that Realtor.com (the web site of the National Association of Realtors) is not involved in this development. Realtor.com certainly possesses the name recognition and credibility in the real estate market. Obtaining listings from real estate professionals is not likely a problem. However, will those professionals eventually forget to include Realtor.com as they work with these other companies in this new format? It seems like this could put some real pressure on Realtor.com in the near future.