Local Matters Matters

Just had dinner with the Local Matters and Mobile People guys and had a great conversation with one of the leading thinkers in local search (IMHO), Perry Evans. I'd be surprised if there's a company better positioned (in both strategy and products) between the traditional YellowPages companies and the search engines. Put simply - Perry deeply understands the quandry of a) local, structured search providers and their massive pay-for-placement revenue streams, and b) the appeal of consumer ratings-based algorithms for sifting through what's the most popular business (in a more 2.0 way). Oh, and they not only understand the issue, but actually have some great fantastic ideas on how to resolve it (rather than 'we're just going to have to wait and see how it all pans out' which I seem to be hearing a lot from the ..er.. experts).

And they're going to IPO soon. Now I'm no accredited finanical adviser, but given the heritage, well resourced client-base facing expensive problems, and the current industry focus on local search... well..