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Key people at Citysearch.
Citysearch was founded in 1995 by Thomas Layton (Co-Founder, President & COO).
Founded in 1996 by Bill Gross via his Idealab incubator and co-founder Charles Conn, Pasadena, California-based Citysearch operates online city guides providing local business listings, entertainment directories, and user-generated reviews. The platform generates revenue by selling targeted advertising space to approximately 500,000 local advertisers and distributing its database of 15 million business listings and three million reviews through an API network. The enterprise reported 6,200,000 dollars in sales against 58,700,000 dollars in cumulative losses by the end of 1997. By 1998, the organization had grown to 560 employees and reached a valuation of nearly 700 million dollars following a merger with the web unit of USA Networks, led by Barry Diller. This transaction included a 50 million dollar controlling investment, complementing early backing from prominent corporate investors including Times Mirror Company, Intel, Compaq, and AT&T Ventures.
Citysearch is an online city guide platform founded in 1995 that helps users discover local businesses, services, and attractions across U.S. cities through listings, maps, directions, editorial content, and user reviews.[1][2] It connects communities with local merchants, initially as a standalone site and later evolving under IAC ownership after a 1998 acquisition, focusing on comprehensive local information in sectors like dining, entertainment, retail, and professional services.[1][2]
The platform serves consumers seeking reliable local recommendations and businesses aiming for visibility, solving the problem of fragmented local discovery in pre-smartphone eras by centralizing data into intuitive city-specific guides.[1][3] Growth came through rapid expansion—launching 11 guides with 500 employees by late 1997—and strategic pivots, though it faced traffic declines from Google's local search dominance around 2008, shifting to a distributed model via its CityGrid network.[3][4]
Citysearch emerged in the mid-1990s amid the early internet boom, initially based in Pasadena (later associated with West Hollywood, California), with conflicting records listing foundation dates as 1986 or 1995; the 1995 date aligns with its launch as an online city guide.[1][2][3] The idea stemmed from a straightforward vision: create a go-to resource for exploring local businesses, services, and attractions, filling a gap in digital local discovery when web directories were nascent.[1]
Key early milestones included raising $75 million in venture capital by 1997 from investors like HSN (lead), T. Rowe Price, Paul Allen-backed Global Retail Partners, Washington Post Co., and Times Mirror Co., fueling expansion to 11 city guides.[3] Acquired by IAC (then tied to Barry Diller's USA Networks) in 1998, it went public as a subsidiary, with leaders like President/CEO Charles Conn and later Jay Herratti navigating its evolution.[1][3][5] Pivotal traction came from competing with Microsoft's Sidewalk, AOL's Digital City, and Yahoo, leveraging TV station partnerships for content.[3]
Citysearch rode the 1990s wave of internet local search and directories, capitalizing on untapped online advertising and e-commerce potential before smartphones and Google Maps.[3] Its timing was ideal in a "formative" industry, expanding amid competition from media giants, but Google's 2008 local pack shift captured organic traffic, crippling directories like Citysearch and forcing adaptation.[4]
Market forces favoring it included rising demand for local merchant connections and community-building tools, influencing the ecosystem by pioneering review-driven guides that prefigured Yelp and Foursquare.[1][4] It shaped local tech by proving data syndication's value, providing backbone content to others and highlighting monopolistic risks from Big Tech in hyperlocal search.[4]
Citysearch's pivot to a backend content provider via CityGrid positions it to endure as Google tightens local dominance, potentially expanding syndication amid rising mobile and AI-driven discovery trends. Future growth hinges on leveraging its historical data trove for partnerships with apps, voice search, or AR local experiences, while navigating ad tech consolidation.
As local search evolves toward personalized, real-time merchant engagement, Citysearch could regain influence by powering ecosystems rather than competing head-on—echoing its origin as the bridge between communities and businesses in a hyper-connected world.[2][4]
Key people at Citysearch.
Citysearch was founded in 1995 by Thomas Layton (Co-Founder, President & COO).
