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.

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.

Glacier Finalizes Acquisition of JuneWarren

Glacier Ventures International Corp. (GVIC) this month finalized plans to acquire the assets of JuneWarren Publishing Ltd. it announced last November. The acquisition gives GVIC ownership of JuneWarren's stable of properties covering the oil and gas industry, including magazines, directory and atlas publications, charts and maps. Specific publications included in the sale are Canadian Oilfield Service & Supply Directory, Oilweek, Oil & Gas Inquirer, Oilsands Review, Alberta Construction Magazine and Canadian Oilfield Gas Plant Atlas.

GVIC already publishes several oil-related titles through its Nickle's Energy Group, such as the Daily Oil Bulletin, the Canadian Oil Register directory, New Technology Magazine, the Rig Locator and The Profiler. GVIC expects the combination of these titles and the newly-acquired ones will help the company better serve the information needs of the Canadian oil and gas industry. The company also expects to provide improved advertising and distribution capabilities as a result.

This is certainly a smart buy for GVIC. JuneWarren's stable of products appears to be a natural fit and should integrate seamlessly into GVIC's established product line. The addition of these publications instantly increased GVIC's stature in the business and professional information and trade information markets. It should also help expand GVIC's relationships with current customers and provide a strong foundation for new relationships with JuneWarren customers. It looks like 2008 will be a very busy year for GVIC as it takes advantage of the growth opportunities these new publications will afford.

Zagat's Possibly Pursuing Sale

Zagat Survey, the publisher of the well-known restaurant guides bearing the founders' name, is considering a sale. The company issued a statement yesterday that said it has hired Goldman, Sachs & Co. to explore future growth possibilities for Zagat, including partnerships, joint ventures or a sale.

Founders Tim and Nina Zagat noted in the statement that 2007 was the company's best year and mentioned the success the company has had producing its content in print, digital and mobile formats. They added that they feel it is time to position Zagat Survey for further long-term growth.

Media reports estimate that a buyer could be willing to pay $200 million and that potential buyers could include IAC/InterActiveCorp. and New York Media Holdings LLC.

Zagat information covers more than 100 countries worldwide through formats including print, ZAGAT.com and ZAGAT TO GO, a service for smart phones, as well as the ZAGAT mobi mobile website. More than 300,000 surveyors supply the content.

This will certainly be an interesting development to watch. While many services that provide similar functions for free, Zagat's remains a hot property in the directory space partly because its name is synonymous with entertainment review space. Not many companies have the name recognition Zagat's does and there are likely many publishers who would be interested in taking ownership.

Zagat's has done a good job keeping up with changing technology and information needs, comfortably expanding beyond its traditional print books to launch online, and then, mobile services. So they are certainly positioned for future growth (despite increased competition from free services that offer similar offerings). If they are, in fact, sold, let's hope that the Zagat's name continues to flourish.