Here are the highlights from the TKG blog this week, in case you missed any posts. Click below to read each post in full.

Regulators Approve Netherlands Directory Consolidation

The Dutch competition authorities today approved the planned merger between the Netherlands operations of Truvo (Gouden Gids) and European Directories (DeTelefoongids). This approval clears the way for the merger to move ahead. (read more…)

Canada’s YPG now Coast to Coast

With the recent acquisition of Get It Pages in Saskatchewan, Yellow Pages Group in Canada has now consolidated a national footprint in Canada. According to the New Brunswick Business Journal, Get It Pages publishes directories in the regions of Battleford, Prince Albert, Yorkton and Estevan. YPG will integrate these editions into its operations, and they will carry the Yellow Pages brand. (read more…)

Recommended Reading: The ‘Semantics’ of Local Search

Localeze biz dev head Gib Olander has a good piece in MediaPost in which he argues the need to refine local search marketing campaigns based on changing search behavior. In other words, the way people search and the terms they use need to be better recognized. (read more…)

J.D. Power: Auto Dealers, Dissatisfied, Ramp Up on Leads

Auto dealers have ramped up their use of online lead providers, according to a new dealer satisfaction study by J.D. Power, which was conducted in May and June with 4,141 respondents. They’ve gone from an average of 5.6 in 2006 to 6.8 in 2008. In addition, more than half the dealers in the study said they subscribe to a lead notification program, which alerts them to an incoming lead via cellphone voice or text messages. (read more…)

iPhone 3G Sales Surpass 2G: That Was Quick

Just seven weeks after its introduction, the iPhone 3G will sell 7 million units. It took the first generation iPhone more than a year to reach that mark, and 3G models now surpass 2G model sales. As we keep saying, the iPhone still only represents less than 1 percent of the U.S. cellphone market (in units sold), but it is growing quickly. Apple is on pace to sell 40 million devices in the next year, and about 800,000 iPhones are being manufactured per day by Apple’s OEM partner Foxconn. (read more…)

DriverSide Tunes Up Local Mechanic Search via fairBenjamin

Newly launched automotive portal DriverSide announced today that it will acquire auto mechanic search site fairBenjamin. The acquisition is hoped to improve DriverSide’s repair service data and estimates for common repairs, and possibly add new dimensions to its service based on fairBenjamin’s service model. This mostly involves anonymously shopping out repair jobs to mechanics who can then connect with car owners. (read more…)

YPG-NZ Brings Home a Winner

As an innovative way of promoting its Yellow Pages and Yellow Frontdoor, its magazine-styled directory focused on home improvement and decorating, Yellow Pages Group New Zealand is now the main sponsor of New Zealand’s largest home show as reported by New Zealand’s Thread Magazine. Within the environment of a slowing real estate market and the focus on green building and renovation, YPG-NZ’s decision to sponsor this event is well timed. (read more…)

U.K. Broadcaster Teams With Oodle, Mobiya for Text Classifieds

Bauer, a U.K. media company, is utilizing a classified ad platform in which users can text in their ads and send MMS photos. The platform is being used by Magic 105.4 and Magic Digital. It is a partnership of Mobiya, which processes the ads, and Oodle, which adds the ads to its broad base of classified listings and also white labels the Magic Local service on the Web. The service is free to users except for any fees associated with texting. (read more…)

LA Times Unit Seeks Share of Real Estate Transactions

Real estate advertising revenues will give way to transaction revenues, at least in SoCal, as the Los Angeles Times Media Group teams with several partners to launch Zetabid, a new site that will display and auction foreclosed homes and other properties. The other partners are London-based GoIndustry-DoveBid, an auction specialist, and CataList Homes of Hermosa Beach, a real estate brokerage. (read more…)

Vertical Slowdown? Teresa Lawlor Discusses Challenges

The development of verticals is an obvious growth strategy for newspapers, Yellow Pages, search engines and as standalones. The Kelsey Group projects that verticals and classifieds will make up 25 percent of interactive local revenues by 2012. But nothing happens overnight. And at this point, still early in the game, there have been some initial disappointments with vertical results. (read more…)