According to The Kelsey Group's annual forecast, global local search* and online classified advertising revenues will grow from $15.7 billion in 2005 to $31.1 billion in 2010. The local search segment will grow from $3.4 billion in 2005 to $13 billion in 2010, with online classifieds growing from $12.3 billion to $18.1 billion during the same period.

"We expect numerous local search start-ups to challenge the predictable revenue flows that the large established marketplaces for automobiles, real estate and other key segments have enjoyed for decades," said Matt Booth, program director of Interactive Local Media and ILM:06 conference chair. "At the heart of these profound changes is the phenomenal growth in local search traffic as more and more global consumers turn to the Internet for researching, comparing, shopping and transacting very small and very large purchases."

"The recent announcements that Google plans to broker advertising beyond the Internet to traditional media could further disrupt an already challenging local media market," added Neal Polachek, The Kelsey Group's senior vice president, research and consulting. "Autos are a significant example because of the size of the advertising category. The Kelsey Group estimates that by 2010 almost 40 percent of an estimated $27 billion automobile advertising market will be allocated to local online and directional media."

It is in this environment that senior executives from across the local search arena will come together for The Kelsey Group's Interactive Local Media 2006 conference, Nov. 29-Dec. 1 in Philadelphia. ILM:06 will explore a range of important topics, including local search, Internet Yellow Pages, vertical directories, online classifieds, social networks and mobile search.

The program features more than 60 speakers from across the online local media industry, with representatives from all the major search and media portals. Participants include Michael Bayle, head of connected life monetization, Yahoo!; Matt Champagne, director mobile, MSN; Alex Daley, lead marketing product manager of Virtual Earth, Microsoft; Gudmundar Hafsteinsson, product manager, Google Mobile; Patrick Jabal, director, content partnerships, Google; Warren Kay, director of emerging markets, Yahoo! Search Marketing; John Kim, senior director, advertiser product, Yahoo!; David Lebow, EVP and general manager, AOL Media Networks; Peter MacDonald, senior director, business development, Yahoo!; Justin McCarthy, manager, SPD, Google Local; Frazier Miller, director of product management, Yahoo!; Dominic Preuss, product director, Google; Dan Rubinstein, small business product initiatives, Google; Rudi Thun, GM and director AOL automotives, AOL; and Michael Yang, senior director, business development, Yahoo! Real Estate.

Sponsors for ILM:06 include 1-800-Free411, Acxiom, Agendize, Amdocs, BTS Logic, Call Genie, eStara, Fast Search & Transfer, Hawthorne Executive Search, Local Matters, Local.com, Localeze, Marchex, Nokia, Traffic.com, TrueLocal and YellowPages.com. Association partners for this event are Association of Directory Marketing (ADM), Association of Directory Publishers (ADP), International Classified Media Association (ICMA), Newspaper Association of America (NAA), Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization (SEMPO), and Yellow Pages Association (YPA). ILM:06 media sponsors are TVover.net and VoIP Monitor.net. For more information about the conference, visit www.kelseygroup.com/ilm2006.

* The Kelsey Group’s definition of local search includes Internet Yellow Pages, local Internet search and wireless directory-based search.