NZ Post takes legal action over Yellow's low blow
A low-rent reaction to new competition.
Hot Topic
Rich List
UPDATE: Bruce Cotterill resigns from Yellow
Financially distressed Yellow faces new competition from NZ Post's Localist, which plans to launch a directory service for Auckland, then spread nationwide.
It has reacted to to this business threat, in part, by staffing up, and putting more effort into finally whipping its website into shape.
But Yellow has also pursued the ultra-lame path of buying Google Ad Words, then tying them to Localists.co.nz, which accidentally-on-purpose looks like NZ Post's Localist.co.nz, but is in fact a Yellow-owned site (registered on October 20 last year – check out dnc.co.nz; notably, October 20 was the day Localist was announced – seems someone jumped right in with the cybersquatting before giving the matter even 24 hours' thought).
Search terms that trigger Yellow's localists.co.nz Google Ad include "Localist," "Localist Auckland" and "Localist NZ" according to an affidavit sighted by NBR.
For a company which has previously tried to take the high ground against new competition, it's a truly juvenile, low-rent tactic.
NZ Post also thinks it's a breach of the Fair Trading Act and, this afternoon, asked the High Court in Auckland to injunct Yellow's campaign.
In his affidavit, Localist chairman (and ex-Kiwibank boss) Sam Knowles said Yellow chief executive Bruce Cotterill had promised to investigate the matter, but attempts at a good-faith commercial resolution had broken down.
Yesterday, Mr Cotterill called Localist's action a publicity stunt.
It will be an interesting one to watch.
Incidentally, NZ Post holds a 35% stake in Datacom (most of the balance is owned by founder and chairman John Holdsworth), so Keallhauled figures its website, and the database behind it, might work better than Yellow.
That could prove the ultimate revenge.
A footnote: one of the affidavits notes that Yellow is not only squatting on localists.co.nz, but has also registered:
localists.net.nz
locallist.org.nz
locallists.net. nz
locallists.org.nz
local-lists.co.nz
local-lists.net. nz
local-lists.org.nz
www.localists.co.nz
www.localists, net.nz
www.localists.org.nz
www.locallist.org.nz
www.locallists.co.nz
www.locall ists.net.nz
www.locallists.org.nz
www.local-lists,co.nz
www.local-lists.net.nz
www.local-lists.org,nz
Champion effort.
© All content copyright NBR. Do not reproduce in any form without permission, even if you have a paid subscription.
NZ Post takes legal action over Yellow's low blow
12508