The U.K. directory publisher Yell unveiled its SEM offering today, which features an alliance with Google to become an AdWords reseller. The service offering will include the creation of SEO-friendly landing pages as well as Google AdWords.

From the press release:

Yell has launched a new service for SMEs — the Search Marketing Service — that will complement our existing UK products and services — Yellow Pages, Yell.com and 118 24 7 — by offering SMEs a Yell-managed service by which they can promote themselves on search engines such as Google, generating additional sales leads.    

Yell has experimented in the past with the right level of cooperation with Google, which is the dominant search platform in the U.K. Under Yell.com President Mark Canon, the company seems to have come down on the side of “if you can’t beat them, join them.”

More from the announcement:

Launch of the service is a further significant step in Yell’s strategy to be the best provider of business leads for SMEs in the UK the Yell service creates simple, effective adverts as part of an AdWords campaign which are displayed when consumers search on Google and they can then click on the ad to be connected to a web page created and hosted by Yell.

SMEs chose how many leads they can handle and how much they want to spend, with flexible contracts and flexible monthly pricing. In addition to the AdWords product, the Yell Search Marketing Service offers the creation of other search engine friendly web pages designed to be displayed in the natural listings of search engines.