BIA/Kelsey Forecasts Digital to Reach 70% of Total Yellow Pages Revenue in Europe by 2016

-- BIA/Kelsey to present forecast highlights during a day of sessions on social-local-mobile advertising at EASDP's Annual Congress, Sept. 19-21 in Toledo, Spain

CHANTILLY, Virginia, Sept. 3, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- BIA/Kelsey, adviser to companies in the local media space, expects European directory organizations to become predominately digital by 2016, with print all but disappearing in some of the more advanced markets.  

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110616/NE20926LOGO )

BIA/Kelsey estimates that in 2011, the print/digital revenue ratio among European publishers was roughly 42 percent digital, 58 percent print. By 2016, the situation will have changed dramatically, with nearly 70 percent of overall revenue coming from digital sources. The sources of digital revenue are varied, including Internet Yellow Pages, websites and hosting services, social media presence and advertising, video, display ad networks, and mobile presence and advertising, among others. (Data chart available online: http://www.biakelsey.com/images/EuropeYPOfflineDigitalRatio.jpg.)

BIA/Kelsey will present a full day of sessions at the Annual Congress of the European Association of Search and Database Publishing (EASDP), which takes place Sept. 19-21 in Toledo, Spain. The BIA/Kelsey one-day program, scheduled for Friday, Sept. 21, will open with "A View Into Europe's Digital Future," in which BIA/Kelsey's Charles Laughlin, senior vice president and program director, will present a research-based overview of the European and global social-local-mobile marketplace. The session will include a review of BIA/Kelsey's global directional media forecast, as well as research focused on small-business advertising behavior in Europe and North America.

"Our latest global Yellow Pages forecast indicates a significant shift to digital products, with markets such as Denmark, Finland, France, Italy, Norway and Sweden already with a balance of revenues favoring digital," said BIA/Kelsey's Laughlin. "Our one-day program at the EASDP Annual Congress will focus on social, local and mobile platforms, with discussions around how to reengineer the sales force to effectively sell digital media, how publishers can use social media as a tool for acquiring and maintaining customers, where the biggest opportunities lie in mobile advertising, and much more."

The EASDP Annual Congress is the largest event in Europe dedicated to the people and the business of the database, search and directory publishing industry. Visit http://www.biakelsey.com/EASDPCongress for details on the agenda, speakers, sponsorship opportunities and registration.

About BIA/Kelsey (www.BIAKelsey.com)   
BIA/Kelsey advises companies in the local media space through consulting and valuation services, research, Continuous Advisory Services and conferences. Since 1983 BIA/Kelsey has been a resource to the media, mobile advertising, telecommunications, Yellow Pages and electronic directory markets, as well as to government agencies, law firms and investment companies looking to understand trends and revenue drivers. BIA/Kelsey's annual conferences draw executives from across industries seeking expert guidance on how companies are finding innovative ways to grow. Additional information is available at http://www.biakelsey.com, on the company's Local Media Watch blog, Twitter (http://twitter.com/BIAKelsey) and Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/biakelsey).