Monday, June 16, 2008

CitySquares expands neighborhood search

By Christopher Calnan

CitySquares Online Inc., a Boston-based search website operator, is expanding beyond Metropolitan Boston with listings of businesses in all the New England states as well as the greater New York City area.

CitySquares, which launched its website in 2005, now includes 1.5 million listings compared with 64,000 just a week ago after buying the additional data from a Chicago-based Amacai Information Corp., CEO Ben Saren said.

CitySquares will continue to market its advertising to Greater Boston businesses that it features online, but will monitor activity following the additional listings to identify new advertising markets, he said. Saren is expecting visitor traffic to the company’s website to increase by a factor of 14.

In May, CitySquares reported 70,000 unique visitors compared with 15,000 a month last year, Saren said. He attributes the growth to search engine optimization and the fact that 33 percent of all online searches are done by consumers looking for goods and services — CitySquares’ sweet spot.

CitySquares’ No.1 search category is for food-related businesses, such as restaurants and cafes, Saren said. He’s projecting revenue to reach $1 million this year.

CitySquares is designed to give local businesses a method to advertise to a highly targeted local online audience through a consumer-facing website. Users are able search for local businesses on the website, rate the businesses, review them and contribute other kinds of content.

Several local companies have launched web-based businesses that offer different takes on the conventional city guide theme. Website operators include Cambridge-based Zync Inc., which was acquired in February by location-based services application developer uLocate Communications Inc., as well as Cambridge-based CityVoter Inc. Also, Going.com Inc., Povo Inc. and Yokel Inc. are all based in Boston.

Saren founded CitySquares with partner Bob Leland. The pair initially launched websites for seven neighborhoods in Somerville and Cambridge and quickly expanded to cover 25 separate communities from South Boston to the Allston-Brighton area.

The company, which housed four employees while based in Somerville last year, now operates with 14 employees in the South End of Boston.

In 2007, CitySquares closed on its first round of institutional funding, provided by the eCoast Angel Network, based in Portsmouth, N.H., followed by another angel round this year. It has garnered about $1.5 million in total investment, but Saren declined to disclose the exact amount.

He expects CitySquares to eventually seek a round of venture capital to fund its growth.