Yellow Pages Group (YPG) today announced the acquisition of online properties it hopes will help evolve its brand from a printed phone directory to a digital shopping resource.
It has acquired 411.ca, an online business and home phone directory that previously competed with YPG’s YellowPages.com and Canada411.ca.
Annie Marsolais, director of corporate and marketing communications at YPG, said the two 411-named URLs had been a cause of online confusion.
"411.ca is an online-only directory. We’re going to benefit from their sales force and reach," she said. "The deal unites two major local search engines in Canada."
While 411.ca may see a rebranding in the near future, it will be run as a separate operation from the existing YPG online directories.
YPG today also announced the acquisition of Clear Sky Media, which owns RedFlagDeals.com, PriceCanada.com and Scarlett Lounge.
RedFlagDeals, launched in 2000, allows its estimated 2.2 million unique visitors per month to look for product discounts and online coupons, while PriceCanada went live in 2005 to compare online retail prices. Scarlett Lounge provides similar services in the fashion and beauty verticals.
"We’re not only trying to expand our reach, we’re trying to transform the way we address the consumer market and local search market," Marsolais said. "We’ve been seen as a directory business for a hundred years. That’s behind us."
The company’s goal, she added, is to create a network of properties that connect consumers with people and businesses across Internet and mobile platforms.
CEO Marc Tellier said mobile phone users will be able to have deals, offers and coupons from RedFlagDeals.com delivered to them on their devices later this year–providing consumers with a convenient alternative to paper coupons.
"It’s on your mobile. It’s handy and you didn’t have to cut it out. You didn’t forget it in the car, you didn’t leave it home and so on," he said.
That means it’s more likely that consumers will take advantage of these offers, he added.
"The smart devices, the mobile phones today, in our opinion, will proliferate the use of deal redemption."
Tellier said the acquisitions will increase Yellow Page’s web audience to 11 million unique visitors per month, up from nine million.
YPG had previously said it did not want to facilitate consumer reviews and ratings across its properties, giving advertisers full control of their brand impression in the listings. However, all of Clear Sky’s sites prominently feature ratings and reviews.
Marsolais said the company’s attitudes are changing, and it would make reviews from the new sites–as well as those from Restaurantica.com which YPG acquired in January–a part of its regular listings.
"There’s proof now that [ratings and reviews] are triggering more purchases, more informed decisions. There’s a way to do it that’s fair to both consumers and advertisers."
