For many years, advertising in Yellow Pages was a no-brainer. Sure it wasn't cheap but who could argue with how important it was to 'be' where your customers were 'looking'.

But as Yellow Pages became more revenue-drive and less user-friendly it became harder to justify the cost of being visible. Consumers were equally frustrated because they could never tell when they were looking at all possible choices because not all business could afford to pay to be in all directories.

But as Yellow Pages usage declines the natural replacement for directory listings is with search engines - like Google. They are great because they allow consumers to search for what they want in their own words. While Yellow Pages made people search by their categories, consumers now search by whatever words they want and its up to businesses to develop their websites with the language and programming that will make sure their sites are on Google when consumers are looking for them.

But Google has its own challenges too. Each page is limited to a small number of listings and you don't always get a good idea of what businesses are available to choose from. Sure there are portals that list some of the businesses in the city but they use the same user-unfriendly language and categories that were used by Yellow Pages.

So there was still a need for a category-specific directory that could ensure consumers saw all possible businesses - not just the ones who paid for bigger ads.

And that is where Ottawa Directory Service begins.

Ottawa Directory Service began life as a consumer-centric directory service to address this gap for everyday people to find the produces and services they needed. The goal of each directory is to be placed on the first page of Google when consumers search using the everyday words that describe what they're looking for.

Ottawa Directory Service includes a thorough listing of businesses in each category. Each business is contacted and invited to add their website address for free. Some businesses choose to have a 'premium' listing which allows them to include information that they hope will entice potential customers to visit them over the other businesses.