If the new partnership with Yahoo is a success, Donnelley would look at expanding the arrangement to other parts of the country, said Peter Larmey, a spokesman for the Cary company. Donnelley is the No. 3 yellow pages publisher, with directories in 28 states.

Financial terms of the deal, which expands Donnelley's relationship with Yahoo, weren't disclosed.

Donnelley already was selling ads for Yahoo's main site in the West and Midwest, and it has a similar arrangement with Google as well.

Donnelley has been expanding aggressively in the online arena recently.

Last month, it announced it was buying Business.com -- a site that businesses use to search for services, vendors and potential customers -- for $345 million. And in April, it said it would consolidate its online presence on a single Web site, DexKnows.com.

The agreement with Yahoo announced Tuesday covers the states where Donnelley prints yellow pages directories for the telephone company Qwest under the Dex brand name.

The partnership includes Yahoo Maps as well as Yahoo Local.

The Dex sales force is selling targeted listings that will appear in the "sponsor results" section of Yahoo Local, which permits users to search for businesses and services in a certain geographic region. So an eatery in a Midwestern city that purchased Yahoo Local ads through Donnelley would appear in the "sponsor results" section when a user searches for restaurants in that city.

The deal offers Donnelley advertisers an additional way to reach customers, Larmey said.

"This is going to allow them to take advantage of Yahoo's significant user base and provide them with substantial exposure," Larmey said.

Yahoo Local attracts 30 million unique visitors each month.

Donnelley shares closed Tuesday at $58.19, down $2.09.