GeoPage inks deal with Citysearch for business ratings

Zoodango today is unveiling its new name, GeoPage, and announcing a partnership to embed its "geo-search" technology on the Web site of Citysearch.

GeoPage Chief Executive James Sun -- best known for his appearance on Donald Trump's "The Apprentice -- mentioned the name change and partnership a few weeks ago when I chatted with him about a naming dispute with Jobdango over the use of the word "dango."

Sun, whose startup company recently landed $625,000 in financing, is now moving on from that dispute and looking to change the way that people find restaurants, bars, theaters and other venues on an interactive map.

The service also includes a GeoPage ranking for each business and a new service called GeoBlog that allow users to offer additional details on things to do and places to go in neighborhoods.

Eventually, Sun said the company plans to allow users to buy theater or movie tickets or book restaurant reservations through the site.

As part of the Citysearch deal, Sun tells TechFlash that he's receiving a massive dump of Citysearch data -- from business listings to consumer reviews. GeoPage is analyzing that data in order to get a more effective ranking score that it will use on its site and possibly provide back to Citysearch.

"It is really a dream come true," said Sun. "We are getting data and we are able to use that data and monetize that data." 

As part of the deal, Citysearch also is operating as GeoPage's primary ad network -- serving local ads for restaurants, clubs and other local venues.

That advertising deal will help drive some revenue to his startup without the challenges of trying to hire a local sales force in each market where GeoPage operate, Sun said.

Citysearch also is interested in incorporating the GeoPage mapping system, though that's not part of this initial deal.

Since GeoPage provides a way for people to find venues that are within walking distance, it could eventually compete with Citysearch as a destination site.

"They recognize that, so that's why they partnered with us early on," said Sun.

Here's more on the service, including Sun's thoughts on competing with Yelp.

As to the naming dispute with Jobdango, Sun said it is not quite over since they still own rights to the name. He's letting his lawyers handle the matter.

"I don't want to do deal with it anymore," he said.

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