Scoot To Be Sold By ITV

opportunity abounds for the lean operator...

[inbound]

In a move that sees 600 job cuts in their TV operations and the flagging of the desired disposal of other non-core assets such as Friends Reunited, ITV have stated that they want to sell Scoot - a small player in the UK local search space.

What does this, and other similar decisions by large media companies, mean for other publishers in Local Search?

As far as I can see, there's a great deal of opportunity for lean operators to disrupt the market whilst big businesses (whose sole aim is not Local Search) take their eye off the ball.

Have you seen potential competitors in your market lose interest in Local Search or not embark on plans that seemed to be in place before the recession hit? There are several examples in the UK that suggest that only a few strong current brands will survive and we will end up with a few of the smaller operations moving up to become the 2nd tier that could/should have belonged to media companies.