Canpages plans to integrate the user recommendation functions from Gigpark.com into Canpages.ca by the end of the year, creating Canada’s first hybrid local search-social networking site.

“We’re not trying to reinvent the wheel, to create Facebook. We’re going to leverage Facebook, MySpace, Twitter,” Olivier Vincent, chief executive of Canpages, said in an interview. “GigPark will add a whole new pillar to our strategy.”

Combined with the GigPark toolbox, which allows users to search for painters, lawyers, babysitters and other services based on who their friends recommendation, the company appears in position to compete with Yellow Pages.

“I think (the brand) Yellow Pages is a liability more than anything else. It’s associated with a print experience,” Mr. Vincent said. “In the past year we’ve got 70% of the traffic they do. David is almost as big as Goliath.”

The company is also in a race with Google to complete 360-degree image mapping of Toronto streets. Mr. Vincent expects Canpages Street Scene for Toronto to be online by the end of the year.

The Canpages-GigPark platform will be implemented in the websites of 15 U.S. companies, marking the beginnings of a North America-wide business recommendation network for the company.

Noah Godfrey, co-founder of GigPark, said negotiations on the partnership with Canpages began about six months ago.

“Right away it was clear this was a match made in heaven,” he said. “They can take what we have and bring it to the mainstream. It becomes a truly killer app.”

Mr. Vincent expects GigPark, which has about 10.000 recommended businesses, will bring in “hundreds of thousands” of new users for Canpages.

The acquisition results in a growth of Canpages’ advertising base by more than 7,000 new customers as it consolidates PhoneGuide’s 19 print directories that currently serve several parts of Southern Ontario. The acquisition also means an increase in Canpages’ revenues by $9.2 million.

“With the acquisition of PhoneGuide directories we are able to expand our footprint in the Ontario market which will provide greater reach for our advertisers” said Olivier Vincent, President and CEO of Canpages. “Canpages is already Canada’s fastest growing local search company and the agreement speaks to our commitment to aggressively build on the company’s success.”

In addition to the company’s print directories, Canpages has invested considerably into the development of its online local search platform, Canpages.ca to provide a best-in-class local search experience to Canadians and deliver exceptional value to advertisers. In less than a year, its online presence has grown from 300,000 unique visitors per month to over 3.5 million. Along with unique refinement options that enable users to narrow their search to specific categories, neighbourhoods, price ranges and more, Canpages is the first in Canada to offer “Street Scene” search functionality, a feature which provides high resolution, 360-degree street-level views of local business environments.

Canpages publishes more than 80 local telephone directories throughout Ontario, Quebec, Alberta, British Columbia, Northwest Territories and Yukon. In less than one year, Canpages has expanded its reach from 2 million to 8 million homes and businesses across the country. This consolidation with allow a core focus on the Ontario market where the company is experiencing significant growth.

The PhoneGuide acquisition represents the third major directories acquisition for the company in less than eight months and another milestone for Canpages. Earlier this year, the company acquired EZ Finder(TM) Phonebooks and ZipLocal.ca.

Details regarding the transfer, schedule, etc. will be forthcoming in the next week. In the mean time, if you have any questions, please contact Tony Vermaas at tvermaas@genesispubservices.com or via phone at 616-831-2800 x8858.

The acquisition, which is expected to be finalized in July 2009, will see Canpages’ advertiser base grow by more than 2,300 new customers and expand its reach to the 695,000 unique visitors(i) who conduct more than 3.2 million searches on the ZipLocal.ca website each month. Additionally, it will allow Canpages to further enhance the functionality of its online search platform, Canpages.ca, with ZipLocal’s considerable amount of user-generated content that includes reviews, ratings and business tags designed to help consumers make more informed decisions during their search.

“Canpages is already Canada’s fastest growing local search company because of our commitment to innovation and delivering the best search experience possible to consumers,” said Olivier Vincent, President and CEO of Canpages. “The acquisition of ZipLocal.ca not only takes us one step closer to becoming Canada’s market leader in local online search, it also creates new
opportunities for ZipLocal’s advertising base to tap into Canpages’ extensive print and online directory user bases.”

Since its launch in 2006, Canpages has invested a significant amount of time and resources in the development of Canpages.ca to provide a best-in-class local search experience to Canadians and deliver exceptional value to its advertisers. In addition to unique refinement options that enable users to narrow their search to specific categories, neighbourhoods, price ranges and more, Canpages is the first in Canada to offer “Street Scene” search functionality, a feature which provides high resolution, 360-degree street-level views of local business environments. It is also the first to offer Canadians voice recognition mobile applications for both the iPhone and BlackBerry, which enable users to speak their search request into their phone.

The agreement to acquire ZipLocal.ca represents the second major directory acquisition for the company in less than six months and another milestone for Canpages, which has grown its online presence at Canpages.ca from 300,000 unique visitors per month to 3.5 million and tripled its number of employees from 200 to more than 600. Additionally, in less than one year
Canpages has also expanded its reach from 2 million to 8 million homes and businesses across the country.

Along with voice-recognition capabilities, Canpages’ BlackBerry and iPhone applications enable users to:
• Search for businesses “nearby” without having to input a location, leveraging the devices’ GPS functionality
• See real-time views of local transit commutes via live traffic cams (iPhone only)
• View maps of business locations
• Save a business’ contact information to the phone
• View websites, photos and videos of businesses
• Phone a business directly from the application
• Conduct a reverse look-up search by phone number
• Conduct a people search (iPhone only)

Canpages’ mobile applications for the BlackBerry and iPhone are extensions of its online local search platform, Canpages.ca. Since the company’s inception in 2006, Canpages has invested significantly in the development of its online and mobile platforms to provide a best-in-class local search experience to Canadians and exceptional value to advertisers, comprised primarily of small businesses. As a result, Canpages has seen its online user base grown from 300,000 to 3.5 million unique monthly visitors in less than one year and was recognized by comScore as being the fastest growing website in Canada in 2008*. Additionally, Canpages was recently recognized by the Wireless Innovation Network of BC (WinBC) with the Most Innovative Wireless Service Award for its iPhone application.

Users can download the Canpages applications for free in the Blackberry and iPhone app stores, or by texting “blackberry” or “iphone” to 898411 on their respective devices.

Canpages’ corporate value story:

This is a street view demo from Canpages’ President & CEO, Olivier Vincent:

Another Street View Video: