YPG lauches.... autos .ca

[6sons]

This is a natural start for them and it will be interesting to see if they start any of the other 350+ domains

http://www.ypg.com/en/newsroom/479-t...w-car-listings

[hugegrowth]

They have been trying to grow their online services, and not just rely on the big thick books, so expect to see more of this from YPG.

[whitebark]

They have been plastering the radio waves with job wanted ads. They are planning an expansion of some sort...

[6sons]

They have been plastering the radio waves with job wanted ads. They are planning an expansion of some sort...

Not sure what you mean by this. Do you mean "help wanted"?

[Zoobar]

...

I think they've finally seen the light on what to do with their portfolio

[Provider]

6sons, here in Vancouver I can hear their ads about hiring more people every hour on the radio.

[RTM.net]

Met some IT admin guys from YPG at a vendor dinner in Montreal - they are certainly on the ball in terms of strategy in their online business.

We'll see how execution works out - that's what counts, no?

Rob

[Provider]

Didn't they buy a big portfolio of .ca domain names for lots of money?

[whitebark]

yes help wanted - that's what I meant to say. As Provider mentioned they are running ads across radio networks for the past couple of weeks. They've got a large office in Burnaby.

[ianccc]

The problem with YPG is that they are taking clients Adwords campaign and directing to their "LandingPage" offering some sort of analytics that they deam necessary. will explain below

example
- BillsDental.com based in Toronto
- pays YPG for the combined "print" + "online" package that includes ??? towards an "adwords campaign"
- YPG goes out an reggaes BillsDentalToronto and turns it into a "landing page" that contains the clients contact info + a "unique" phone # so if a visitor
ends up on the "landing page" the phone # is tracked + redirected to the clients office

To me this is "morally" and "ethically" wrong YPG is effectively stealing a click the client has paid for, I developed a "Complete/Inviting/Informational" website for a Dental client and I personally wanted my client to "cancel" the "online" portion of the campaign, however it's rolled into "one" price

So although some folks think this is a "ballsy" move - I think it's ethically wrong.

I can PM the actual "landing pages" to any that ask

[DropWizard.com]

We had a seminar recently where a YPG rep spoke and admitted they supplement their results with Google adwords. They don't get enough traffic on their own.
It's a typical example of a company that owned the business advertising field and should have owned it on the net and blew it.

They're trying to translate their expensive yellow page services to the internet. Frankly I think their effort is too little too late.

[6sons]

Didn't they buy a big portfolio of .ca domain names for lots of money?

Yes, they bought 389 or so directory type domains like dentists.ca, doctors.ca and autos.ca about 4 years ago for approx 2.5M.

[fwdtech]

I have always despised the way YPG treats naive small-businesses, by regging the domain under their control, and then bundling their print, website, domain, and telephone. If the business changes their mind on their website, tough, you lose your phone number too.

Their reps also choose the WORST possible domains (at least they're now using .ca's) that can be spotted a mile away. 2 examples (from the same Google ad no less) tonight:
TrasoliniEPoolConstructionLtd.ca
CatalinaPoolAndSpaLtd.ca

However, the whois for:
CatalinaPoolAndSpaLtd.ca
raises some interesting questions, doesn't it?

[msn]

I have always despised the way YPG treats naive small-businesses, by regging the domain under their control, and then bundling their print, website, domain, and telephone. If the business changes their mind on their website, tough, you lose your phone number too.

That is clearly a matter to bring to the competition authorities.

Their reps also choose the WORST possible domains (at least they're now using .ca's) that can be spotted a mile away. 2 examples (from the same Google ad no less) tonight:
TrasoliniEPoolConstructionLtd.ca
CatalinaPoolAndSpaLtd.ca

A few years ago, we had YellowPages contact us: they ran an ad using our domain name for one of their customers and wanted us to forward to them!

However, the whois for:
CatalinaPoolAndSpaLtd.ca
raises some interesting questions, doesn't it?

You mean Marchex, the dark prince of .ca domains. Nice to see Americans appreciate .ca domains.

[fwdtech]

A few years ago, we had YellowPages contact us: they ran an ad using our domain name for one of their customers and wanted us to forward to them!

I TBR'd a nice medical domain 4 years ago. YPG had dropped it (nice domain maintenance for their client). Let them take it back for upper xxx. One year later, they dropped it again.

[msn]

That is really a great statement for YellowPages.

What happened to the domain after they dropped it the second time?

[fwdtech]

That is really a great statement for YellowPages.

It's despicable what happens to these samll businesses.
You can see the drops in the .com's, but with the hidden whois in .ca's, you can't see what happens as much, but there's a lot of, if not abuse, very bad business practice.

What happened to the domain after they dropped it the second time?

It's available.

I think the doc got fed up and created a different site with a different domain.

I have found over the years that medical professionals spend all their education in their field and ZERO in running a business, so none to little concept on websites / domains etc., so they can be tough to market to.

Same applies to many small businesses, ripe for YPG.

[Zoobar]

...

YPG's last quarter.

"Online growth remained strong during the fourth quarter. Combined online revenues for Directories and Vertical Media were $123.4 million, or approximately $495 million on a fourth-quarter annualized basis. This represents organic growth of 16% for the year."

Source:
http://www.ypg.com/en/newsroom/475-y...ancial-results

[msn]

I think it really is more of a time issue. They have pharmaceutical representatives arriving all the time trying to peddle new drugs, seminars, staff issues, seemingly endless paperwork, and then you show up wanting to explain something in half an hour or so.

If you can get the explanation down to under five minutes with costs and benefits clearly outlined, I think you will find more acceptance.

At least that is my experience.