PinBud blog

Posts Tagged ‘Yellow Pages’

Really, I do! Yesterday I was enjoying my Jagermeister on the deck when my kid told me that we have a moth in the fireplace. She could see it behind the glass and it was scary, she claimed. “Just burn it!” was my quick solution. (Now, all you moth lovers don’t freak out! Maybe it was the Jager in me..).  “Dad, the fireplace doesn’t work!” Eager to kill the intruder, I tried it myself. Indeed, the fireplace was dead. After a quick assessment I decided that it needs cleaning and repairs… before winter comes in a couple of months (I’m in Calgary, not in Phoenix!). I figured that the problem is electrical even if it is a gas fireplace.

So, I do need someone to fix my fireplace. An electrician experienced with fireplaces, or vice-versa, a fireplace guy licensed as electrician.

So now, please tell me, where can I find someone like that? What, the Yellow Pages? Google Maps? Are you kidding me? Did you see those lists? And no, my buddy did not refer a good electrician to me either.

Let’s look at Yellow Pages. Results for “Electricians in Calgary”: three sponsored listings plus another 45 businesses. All have phone numbers. Some have websites and emails. One has photos, several have videos, and three have reviews. Unfortunately there are no keywords available. Obviously, I would narrow results if “fireplace” was a keyword.

Let’s look at Google: A few sponsored links and a bunch of organic listings. Some are electricians, others are classifieds (kijiji), the BBB, a couple directories (more directories?), and one or two review sites. Plus, of course, Google Maps (aka Google Places, formerly Google Local).

Now, you may think this is great! Plenty of choices, right? Actually, I don’t think so! Now I have to do a lot of research: read some business profiles and consumer reviews to find out who is qualified to do a good job. My budget is also limited; I figure this is a hundred bucks job, not more. Then what am I supposed to do? Select a few companies and call them one by one, explain the problem to each of them, get quotes, book appointments? Man, that requires some effort and it sounds time consuming!

I have a better solution: PinBud. Yeah, I’m not joking! The website is brand new but it is already returning some good results. Businesses are enrolling every day – for free! – all over Canada and United States, in many service categories, with all kinds of keywords and information. I can sort and display results by distance, by number of listings per page, or by working hours. I can indicate the search radius around my address. Or I can look for my keywords. Sorting by ratings and number of reviews is also available.

Each PinBud business listing has a detailed presentation page. If they completed their profile I can see a relevant description, contact information, location on the map, current deals and discounts, and previous job portfolio. User reviews and ratings are also enabled. Really, a listing on PinBud looks already as good as, if not better than, most other directories out there.

But our truly great local search improvement is the one contact form for multiple service providers. I can select several good local businesses, complete a quick and easy service request form, and send my quote request to all of them in one easy step.

So, here I go: I search for Electricians around my postal code, T2Y 4L6. PinBud returns 191 businesses located in a 25 km radius. That sounds like an awful lot, so I reduce the area to 10 km. I still get 59 businesses. Nevertheless, the first three listings are PinBud members that I can contact at once using the one request form. Ideally I should get tens of businesses so I can sort, review and select five or ten of them, but three will do for now. (Hello, Calgary Electricians! Why aren’t you there on PinBud already?)

I am sending my job request to the three Electricians I selected, and then I will wait for their response and decide for the best quote (not necessarily the cheapest).  In the end, one electrician will get the job and we will have a working fireplace this winter. And no moth either!

Chris (going back to my Jagermeister now)

Summary by: Abida N. Khan, MBA

A new report that was recently released by Google Trends has shown that the Yellow Pages seem to be losing its effectiveness in the search marketplace. In March 2010 Yellow Pages had purchased CanPages and one would have thought that with this acquisition it would have boosted people’s interest; however this is sadly not the case.

With the figures that have been released one can clearly see the downward spiral of people’s interest in the Yellow Pages and in this case the figures speak for themselves. It’s sad to see the Yellow Pages losing its stamina in the search marketplace but, I guess as technology advances, so will people’s choices. View More at: Google Trends

View More at: Google Trends

The Canadian Press, 2010

MONTREAL – Directory company Yellow Media Inc. (TSX:YLO.UN) is continuing its push for more digital growth with the acquisition of Vancouver-based search engine and directory publisher Canpages in a $225-million deal.

If approved by the federal Competition Bureau, the deal will combine two of Canada's biggest publishers of advertising directories and local web search engines.

"Essentially, what we're looking to do is accelerate our business transformation to the digital world," president and CEO Marc Tellier said in an interview.

The Canpages acquisition was announced at the same time the Montreal company said it had struck a deal to sell its U.S. operations, Ziplocal in which it will keep a minority interest.

Canpages is the latest acquisition for the publisher of the Yellow Pages directories as it deals with the rise of online advertising and online search engines, which pose a challenge to traditional printed directories.

Tellier said 23 per cent of Canpages' revenue comes from digital sources, while about 20 per cent of Yellow Media's revenues are expected from digital applications in 2010. He said it's too soon to project what annual digital revenues of both companies would be.

"This really allows us to capitalize on the online momentum that Canpages has built," Tellier said of the acquisition. "There's clearly an opportunity to grow the online reach."

Canpages, which publishes 84 printed directories, also operates the Canpages.ca search engine and employs about 700 people, including more than 450 sales representatives.

To acquire Canpages, Yellow Media will pay $75 million in cash and issue $150 million worth of promissory notes to an investor group led by private equity firm HM Capital Partners. Read More >>