I note you’ve mentioned Yelp as the sort of online service consumers use nowadays when they’re looking to purchase.

Indeed, Yelp is a world leading social networking local search and reviews based website with over 71.4m visits per month and over 27m reviews.

The influence of online services like Yelp was further highlighted in this year’s Yellow Social Media Report – 70% of respondents indicated they read an online review before purchasing a product or service.

The Report also revealed, on average, consumers read five reviews on social media before they purchase a product or service, and a further 24% actually contribute review content.

Given Yelp’s market dominance and the depth of Sensis/Yellow Pages local SMB database, a partnership between our respective organisations seemed obvious.

The partnership was announced in July 2011, and one of many benefits is that Yelp ratings and reviews are published across Sensis/Yellow Pages digital properties, helping to create a richer experience for our user base.

Similarly, BigPond Dining, an online website that features the ability to connect you to more than 2,000 restaurants, to view if there are any available tables, was launched in June. The service is backed by Dimmi, Australia’s largest online restaurant booking service.

We regard these online services as complementary to our business. We don’t own this space, but we certainly have a strong presence which we’ll look to expand in the future.