YellowSpaces, a start-up launched by New York entrepreneur Constantin Manta, hopes to differentiate itself from a glut of Internet Yellow Pages and local search applications by keeping things clean, better engaging users, and better integrating mobile channels.

The service has such state of the art, mobile-oriented features as city name guessing after just a few letters; “confidence scores” of local businesses from Localeze; Web and Wikipedia search; landmark/point of interest search; and automatic Skype calling.
I visited Manta last week in his offices, where he acknowledged the glut in IYPs. His own personal iPhone has 12 IYP apps, filling an entire screen. “I just think that the main IYP companies just don’t get it yet when it comes to getting it right for mobile,” he said.

“The core technology behind most of the IYP platforms isn’t properly optimized and/or structured to serve up quick, local, relevant and personalized search results,” said Manta. “The mobile application that will get it right will move towards a ‘personal advisor’ type system that has the ability to learn, anonymously store and predict your needs based on your search habits and have the ability to offer quick, local, relevant and personalized information.”

Twitter is also being utilized as a big part of YellowSpaces rollout. @Yellowspaces, for instance, is gathering and reporting industry-specific news for local search and IYP. “Twitter is one of the most effective business tools on the market,” said Manta. “We listen to conversations and share knowledge, via retweeting. We also use it as a marketing tool.”

Eventually, Manta expects to take YellowSpaces overseas. His ambition? For YellowSpaces to become “the globally branded local search destination.”