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The Australian-based Telstra Corporation is expected to launch a search engine built around their Sensis property, a Yellow and White pages-based service. This move is seen as defensive strategy against Google and Yahoo.

The search engine will be aimed at a younger demographic and will offer access to Yellow and White pages, and local search services based around Sensis-owned Whereis, CitySearch and TradingPost, a online classified newspaper. According to The Age, Sensis has begun a multi-million dollar ad campaign to raise brand awareness, including having "Sensis" appearing on city sidewalks written in chalk.

Sensis commented that their search service would be able to "link up elements of online, voice, wireless and print." Analysts believe Telstra is making these moves in order to prevent their advertiser base from jumping over to Google and Yahoo-owned Overture for search engine marketing services.

News of the upcoming launch saw Teltra's stock prices rise by $.02, bringing the price up to $5.01 at the close of business.

Telstra's upcoming Sensis launch has caused Overture to sit up and take notice. According to ZDNet Australia, Mel Bohse, the managing director of Overture's Australian division, said they plan on launching their new LocalMatch service for the Aussies by the end of the year.

Google Australia had no comment on these developments.

Chris Richardson is a search engine writer and editor for WebProNews. Visit WebProNews for the latest search news.