Golden Pages has invested EUR500,000 in building a new search engine and online classified database for its revamped Web site.
According to Tim Wynne, marketing director of Golden Pages, this is the latest development in a series of developments to the company’s Internet site but by far the ‘most significant’ to date. As well as being easier to navigate, the search engine model is significantly more advanced.
The old search engine searched against classification headings in the central directory, but the new version includes the content of the listings and advertisements in the paper directory using an algorithm to match users’ request with the content.
‘The old search engine was quite limited in that regard. The new one has a greater ability to fine tune requests.’
Wynne said that the model for the new search engine would shortly be extended to other World Directories online classified directory businesses in Holland, Portugal and Belgium.
Golden Pages, which was fully acquired from Eircom by the World Directories Group last year, worked with consultancy Bearing Point and the technical division of its parent company Publictec. The site layout and branding was designed by Enterprise IG.
In 2000, the firm suffered the indignity of being closed down by the Data Protection Commissioner over concerns about illegal mining of information from the site. Hackers were apparently able to get lists of personal telephone numbers in a way that caused a breach of the Data Protection Act.
However, Wynne insisted that these events had no bearing on the development of the new Web site. Rather, the impetus to updating the site stemmed from the limitations of the existing search engine and that advertisers wanted to see changes.
The company claims that the number of unique users to the site has grown by 20 per cent between June 2002 and April 2003 and forecasts that the growth rate will continue at this level. In April, for instance, it had 80,207 unique visitors.
‘There is a significant opportunity for incremental usage,’ said Wynne. ‘We see it as a good way of recruiting new, younger users into Golden Pages as well as keeping on board existing users.’
According to Golden Pages, its paper publication contains over 2,200 classifications and 120,000 business listings. Every year, the Golden Pages is looked at 46 million times for information, which works out on average once every month for every person in the country.
24/09/2003
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