Can the Yellow Pages reasonably deliver customized highly relevant ad content within each niche social network site? That was the question posed by Michael Taylor in the Kelsey Group blog.

He seems confident it will. Since the social networking phenomena began I have been an advocate of the Yellow Pages developing a platform for niche social networks since directories covers such a broad array of topics and content that can be related to highly conversational topics such as travel, music, legal, weddings, new mothers, retirement, interior design, home improvement, etc., he wrote on May 14.

Providing a forum and platform on Yellow Page owned sites for niche social networks has the upside of creating ongoing site traffic by offering a multitude of topics to cover given the more than 5,000 headings and sub-topics that could be created and discussed based on these headings.

According to Taylor, social networking site owners would also have the ability to take advantage of both the rich local Yellow Pages advertising content and its online advertising network agreements to monetize each niche social site in a broader niche social media network. Having such a large base of local advertisers and enhanced local content, Yellow Page companies could reasonably deliver customized highly relevant ad content within each niche social network site, he said.

He raised a good point: this is one opportunity where Yellow Pages publishers could lead and play a major role, rather than follow or act as sub-agents for the larger portals and major social network providers. The real benefits would come in the form of increased traffic, narrow targeting opportunities for advertisers, additional revenue opportunities and leadership in the fast emerging social marketing space.