TurnHere announced that YellowPages.com will be using its network to produce video for local businesses. TurnHere is not the exclusive provider for YellowPages.com. But the video production network is now working with Citysearch, Superpages and Yellowpages.com in the local space. The company does not have partnerships with RHD/Dex or Yellow Book as far as I know.
According to the release:
Under the agreement, TurnHere will provide a custom-produced video approach to YELLOWPAGES.COM for its Video Profile product, which the company recently started offering. During the development of the Video Profiles, advertisers will work directly with TurnHere’s network of local videographers to produce creative videos that capture the personality and services of each small business owner.
Here’s an example video, which you can embed if you want.
TurnHere founder Brad Inman doesn’t need to sell the company but there will be many interested buyers (and there have already been). Yesterday, Spot Runner bought GlobeShooter, a similar production network of videographers to offer custom production capabilities.
Based on an earlier SMB survey commissioned by AT&T (conducted by a third party) it was found that roughly 53% of respondents (n=1,000) said they expect to buy online ads featuring videos within the next couple of years. I’ve also found a high level of interest among SMBs in video and video advertising online.
All these local videos will likely ultimately wind up in search results. However, IYPs and others generating local video will need to determine whether they want to syndicate video content out to search (or allow it to be crawled). This issue reproduces the question faced earlier in terms of whether to “give their data” to Google, et al.
Screenwerk 
January 28, 2008 at 6:41 pm
[…] issue I’ve previously raised is: IYPs and others generating local video will need to determine whether they want to syndicate […]
August 3, 2008 at 4:41 pm
Video will obviously be big business down the line and I agree this videos will wind up in search results. Ultimately I also believe that you will need one location where this is all that you see, which is why we’re working on Jippidy.com