“On 25 June 2008, Entelligence met with Google SA to discuss the maximisation of traffic to the Yellow Pages Web site. Clear actions were agreed upon to jointly cooperate to increase advertising performance. However, that evening Google SA edited the cost-per-click for every Yellow Pages advertisement from 60c to R2, without notifying Entelligence in advance,” explains the statement.
The statement goes on to say that Google intended to pitch directly for the account with the Yellow Pages. “Google SA announced that Yellow Pages is in fact a ‘named account' that they intended servicing directly as part of their greater strategy within SA.”
Entelligence says even after the company engaged with Google SA on the matter, the search giant continued to pursue the business. “The managing director of TDS intervened on 14 August and sent a very clear request to the country manager of Google SA, requesting that it respect the agreement in place between TDS and Entelligence.”
The company says Google is now employing a strong-arm tactic against Entelligence. “Google SA has now informed Entelligence that they will inhibit our ability to continue servicing Yellow Pages by refusing to renew our accounts held with Google and that they will prevent us from creating any new accounts in an attempt to service Yellow Pages.”
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