Local.com has picked up B2B local directory provider PremierGuide for a about $2 million. PremierGuide offers white-label business directories to local publishers, such as newspapers, radio and TV stations, and regional sites. Its network reportedly includes more than 350 regional media sites, including Community Newspaper Holdings, GateHouse Media, and Washingtonpost.Newsweek Interactive.
The business listings are designed to drive search traffic to the publisher sites, when the listings are indexed by search engines. The search traffic is monetized by ads displayed alongside the business listings, with ad revenues shared by PremierGuide and the publisher.
PremierGuide will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Local.com, and its founder and CEO, Malcolm Lewis, will become Local.com’s VP, private label. Local.com plans to integrate PremierGuide’s technology and product with the company’s LocalConnect platform to provide an additional turn-key private-label solution to regional media.