• by Laurie Sullivan  @lauriesullivan, September 3, 2013

ReachLocal announced the resignation of CEO Zorik Gordon Tuesday, naming the company's chairman David Carlick as interim CEO, effective immediately. The statement gave no reason for the departure other than the desire to "pursue other entrepreneurial opportunities."

Early in August, the online marketing and commerce services business unveiled a deal with Yelp to support its business platform aimed at home service providers through ReachCommerce, a new online home services platform that rolled out in beta at about the same time.

Analysts were initially skeptical about U.S. adoption rates for ReachCommerce, which the company said allows merchants to streamline back-office operations, automate interactions with customers, and track the effectiveness of their marketing activities.

Similar to Angie's List, which allows consumers to find help for a variety of services, the ReachLocal commerce platform supports an online booking widget. It also integrates with merchants' existing calendaring system on an iPad that tracks location. It allows customers to see real-time technician availability, book appointments, and receive automatic appointment reminders. Customers receive real-time notification of estimated arrival times, along with photos and reviews. The mobile app also supports digital estimates and payment processing.

Piper Jaffray & Co. Analyst Gene Munster seemed positive about the Yelp partnership in a research note -- which he describes as adding "instant credibility" to the recently launched ReachCommerce platform, although the company lost its "only large customer." He views the metrics from ClubLocal in San Francisco as "encouraging," and expects measurable revenue in 2014, not in his model.

Investors seemed pleased with the resignation. The stock price trading on Nasdaq under the RLOC symbol traded up 118% to 11.11 at 10:02 a.m. EDT on the news.