Google’s announcement of their partnership with Sensis’ Yellow business listings reminds me of Dawn and Tim in the original UK version of The Office. Google Maps is like Tim – sometimes funny, sometimes entertaining, while the Yellow business listings are like Dawn – pretty in their own way, has an obvious attraction to Google Maps, but is stuck with some lout of a bloke (the rest of the Sensis stable) and so pretty much misses the opportunity to go off and get together with Tim… er, Google Maps.
Fortunately, yesterday was like the second Christmas Special, and the two announced that they were finally hooking up, with Yellow’s business listings to be available on Google Maps in Australia from 2009.Also announced was that Google’s Adsense ads for search will be available on Sensis sites. The announcement means the end for Sensis’ search function, and potentially for their WhereIs online search as well. But considering that WhereIs powers most of Australia’s satnav devices, it’s highly doubtful they’d be pulling out of mapping altogether.