Whitepages is an online directory service provider, fraud filtering and identity verification for businesses, public background background checks, and other products, based on a database of contact information for people and businesses. It has the largest database available from contact information on US residents.
Whitepages was founded in 1997 as a hobby for then-Stanford student Alex Algard. Founded in 2000 and received $ 45 million in funding in 2005. Investors were later purchased by Algard in 2013. From 2008 to 2013, Whitepages released several mobile apps, redesigned in 2009, the ability for consumers to control contact information, and other features. From 2010 to 2016, the company shifted away from advertising revenue and began to focus more on selling business services and subscription products.
Video Whitepages (company)
Histori
The idea for Whitepages was conceived by Alex Algard, while studying at Stanford in 1996. Algard was looking for contact information of a friend and the phone company gave him the wrong number. He thought of an online email directory as an easier way to find people. Algard bought the Whitepages.com domain for $ 900, which he thought was all his savings at the time. He continues to operate the website as a hobby while working as an investment banker for Goldman Sachs. He expanded the database of contact information using data licensed from American Business Information (now part of Infogroup). Finally WhitePages earns more advertising revenue than Algard earns at Goldman Sachs. In 1998, Algard left his job to focus on the website; he entered Whitepages in 2000.
The site is growing and attracting more advertisers. The company brokered deals with Yellowpages and Superpages, where Whitepages earn revenue for sending them referral traffic. In 2005, $ 15 million in annual revenues came from these contracts. In 2003, Algard resigned as CEO to focus on CarDomain.com, which he also founded and Max Bardon succeeded him as a temporary CEO. In 2005, Technology Crossover Ventures and Providence Equity Partners invested $ 45 million in the company. That same year, MSN adopted Whitepages directory data for the "Look it up" feature. Algard returned to the company in 2007. By the end of the year, the Whitepages database had grown to 180 million records and the company was listed as one of the 500 fastest growing technology companies in Deloitte in North America. In 2008 the company had $ 66 million in annual revenue.
In 2008, Whitepages said it would start working on options for users to control their information on the site. That same year, he acquired Voip Snapvine developers to add features where users can be called via the website without giving out their phone number. It also introduces a fire, which gives third-party developers access to Whitepages data. Whitepages released iOS apps in August, followed by Whitepages Caller ID app for Android devices in February 2009 and for Blackberry in May.
This app displays information about callers, such as their latest social media posts, local weather on caller's location and caller ID. It initially has the ability to display information about callers, such as their latest social media posts, local weather at caller location and caller identity. The ability for consumers to add themselves to directories was added in the summer of 2009 and was able to edit existing entries added in October.
Whitepages.com underwent a redesign in 2009. According to VentureBeat reporter Matt Marshall, redesign makes the ads "cleaner" and makes it clearer when someone goes to third party websites like US Search. Marshall had previously criticized Whitepages, since website users who clicked on US Search ads and data purchased from US Search were sent through endless advertisements for other services that made it difficult to access the information they paid. A local business search feature called "Store Finder" was added in June 2010. The following month, Whitepages.com launched a DealPop.com, transaction site different from Groupon by offering short-term deals on nationally available products. Dealpop was sold to Tippr the following year.
In 2010, Superpages and Yellowpages reduced spending with Whitepages from $ 33 million to $ 7 million, causing a huge drop in revenue and tense relations with investors. Algard spent $ 50 million in cash held by the company and $ 30 million of bank loans, to buy investors in 2013. He also uses his personal home, savings accounts and personal items as collateral for the loan. Algard began to change the company's business model to reduce its reliance on advertising and instead focus on business users and paid subscriptions.
Whitepages released the Localicious app in July 2011. The app was released on Android first, as Whitepages was frustrated with Apple's approval process for iPhone apps. Whitepages PRO was also introduced in the same year. The latest Android app called Current Caller ID was released in August 2012. Within a year of its release, 5 billion calls and SMS have been shipped using the app. It was updated in July 2013 with new features, such as the ability to customize the caller information layout for each caller and the ability to "Likes" Facebook posts from within the app. In June 2013, Whitepages acquired Mr. Number, an Android app to block unwanted callers.
In August 2013 Whitepages purchased all interests in the company owned by investors for $ 80 million. In 2015, WhitePages acquired a San Francisco-based NumberCorp to increase the database of phone numbers used for fraud in Caller ID applications. In April 2016, Whitepages separated its caller ID business into a separate company called Hiya with 40 staff in Seattle. In September 2016, Alex Algard resigned as CEO of WhitePages, to focus on cellular blocking that blocked Hiya spam. He appointed Rob Eleveld as the new CEO of WhitePages.
Maps Whitepages (company)
Management
- Executive Chairman and Founder: Alex Algard CEO
- : Rob Eleveld
- COO: Jason Eglit
- Chief Privacy Officer and General Counsel: Kelly Schmitt
Services
Whitepages has the largest database of contact information in America. In 2008, it had data on about 90 percent of the US adult population, including 200 million records on people and 15 million business listings. Whitepages data are collected from property deeds, telecommunications companies, and public records. Privacy is a common concern regarding the publication of Whitepages personal contact information. The Whitepages.com website has features that allow users to remove themselves from directories or repair and update information. WhitePages.com has about 50 million unique visitors per month and conducts two billion searches per month.
WhitePages began developing features for business users around 2010. WhitePages Pro is used for such things as verifying the identity of a sales prospect, finding fake form data in an online form and for checking form data from consumers who make purchases against common fraud indicators, such as delivery to mailboxes in an unoccupied building. In 2016, ads on WhitePages.com are turned off to sell monthly subscriptions that give users unlimited background checks and other records.
In 2013 Whitepages provides its related data and services through seven web properties, ten mobile apps and through several web properties, including 411.com and Switchboard.com. The Hiya Application (formerly known as the WhitePages Caller ID) examines incoming calls to databases of phone numbers known as spam or fraud calls and helps users report fraud to the Federal Trade Commission. The Hiya mobile app replaces the Android user interface to make and receive phone calls.
References
External links
- Whitepages.com Official website
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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