What localsearch does

localsearch (legal entity: Swisscom Directories AG) is a Swiss digital marketing and advertising partner for small and medium-sized enterprises, headquartered in Zurich and operating exclusively within the Swiss market. The company serves over 400,000 SMEs through a platform-plus-modules architecture: it owns and operates Switzerland's two largest directory platforms, local.ch (with 500,000+ listed businesses and integrated online booking) and search.ch (directory plus route planner, public transport and weather functions), alongside the renovero craftsman marketplace, the Localcities municipality platform, and the VERGLEICH CH comparison network spanning 55 platforms and 140,000+ providers.

The product portfolio is structured around a freemium entry point (Gratiseintrag, MyCOCKPIT Free, MyLOCALINA Free, MyCOMMERCE Free) and a ladder of paid tiers. The flagship offering is digitalONE, an all-in-one subscription bundling website (MyWEBSITE), booking management (MyCOCKPIT), restaurant reservations (MyLOCALINA), e-commerce (MyCOMMERCE), and marketing automation. Advertising products include advertiseONE (premium cross-platform placements) and digitalPLUS (online ads on local.ch/search.ch), supported by campaign-management tooling (MyCAMPAIGNS). Technology integrations include Google Analytics, HubSpot, Google Maps and YouTube for mapping, analytics, marketing automation and video respectively.

The business model blends subscription revenue (digitalONE, advertiseONE, MyWEBSITE, MyCOCKPIT/MyLOCALINA premium tiers), advertising revenue (placements on local.ch and search.ch), and transaction/booking fees (online reservations and e-commerce). Go-to-market is dual: self-service digital acquisition for entry-level products via localsearch.ch and the directory platforms themselves, complemented by consultative sales for enterprise-tier bundles through the Customer Center portal. Localsearch is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Swisscom, was founded as part of Swisscom's directory business originating from the printed telephone book, and reported 501–1,000 employees as of the most recent disclosure.

Name

localsearch

Legal name

Swisscom Directories AG

Website

https://localsearch.ch

Company type

Private

Founded year

2016

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

501–1,000 employees

Short description

localsearch is a Swisscom-owned digital marketing and advertising partner for over 400,000 Swiss SMEs, operating Switzerland's leading directory platforms local.ch and search.ch alongside booking, website, e-commerce and advertising products.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Digital Marketing and Directory Services for SMEs

NAICS

Advertising Agencies (541810)

akta.pro primary industry

Local Search & Business Directories (BPAMAAAE)

akta.pro secondary industries

Local & Location-Based Performance Advertising (Local Search/Maps, Geo-targeting) (BPAFACAL), Local SEO (Maps, Citations, Reviews) (BPAFAJAD)

Keywords

• Business directory services
• SME digital marketing
• Online advertising platforms
• Appointment booking software
• E-commerce solutions

Headquarters

HQ city

Zürich

HQ country

Switzerland

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Subscription Products (digitalONE, MyWEBSITE, advertiseONE): Recurring subscription fees for access to marketing and advertising products. Pricing appears tiered based on feature access and service level, with annual and monthly billing options mentioned in AGB documents.
2. Online Advertising (digitalPLUS, advertiseONE): Revenue from businesses advertising on local.ch and search.ch platforms. Ads appear in premium placements when users search for specific products and services, with guaranteed visibility on specially prominent ad placements.
3. Transaction/Booking Fees: Revenue generated from online booking and reservation services through MyCOCKPIT and MyLOCALINA, where customers can book appointments and tables directly through SME profiles.
4. E-commerce/Online Shop (MyCOMMERCE): Revenue from enabling SMEs to sell products directly online through integrated shop solutions.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

localsearch provides digital marketing, directory listings, online advertising, appointment booking, website creation, and e-commerce tools to Swiss small and medium enterprises (SMEs). The company operates Switzerland's leading business directories (local.ch and search.ch) and sells subscription-based software products (digitalONE, advertiseONE, MyCOCKPIT, MyLOCALINA, MyCOMMERCE, MyWEBSITE) that help SMEs establish an online presence, accept bookings, run ads, and sell products online.

Product overview

localsearch is a Swiss digital marketing and advertising partner for SMEs, offering a comprehensive platform-plus-modules architecture. The core product portfolio includes digitalONE (all-in-one package combining website, booking, shop, and marketing), advertiseONE (professional advertising), and digitalPLUS (online advertising on local.ch and search.ch). Supporting modules include MyCOCKPIT (appointment/customer management), MyLOCALINA (restaurant reservations), MyCOMMERCE (e-commerce), MyWEBSITE (website creation), and SWISS LIST (basic online presence). localsearch operates Switzerland's leading directory platforms including local.ch (500,000+ businesses, booking platform), search.ch (directory with route/planner features), VERGLEICH CH (55 comparison platforms, 140,000+ providers), renovero (craftsman marketplace), and Localcities (municipality platform). Over 400,000 Swiss SMEs use localsearch services.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• local.ch: The strongest booking platform in Switzerland with over 500,000 businesses listed, enabling users to find local service providers and book appointments online.
• search.ch
• renovero
• VERGLEICH CH
• Localcities
• digitalONE
• advertiseONE
• MyCOCKPIT
• MyWEBSITE
• MyCOMMERCE
• MyLOCALINA
• digitalPLUS
• SWISS LIST

Products and services

• digitalONE All-in-one package for SMEs combining website, booking tool, online shop and marketing tools in a single platform, designed to handle multiple digital marketing needs automatically.
• advertiseONE Professional advertising solution providing placement on the best advertising spaces across localsearch platforms, enabling effective online advertising campaigns.
• digitalPLUS Online advertising product targeting local.ch and search.ch platforms, guaranteeing visibility on specially prominent advertising placements.
• MyCOCKPIT Digital appointment and customer management tool enabling online booking capabilities, allowing customers to book appointments anytime while improving customer retention.
• MyLOCALINA Restaurant reservation tool enabling customers to book tables online, specialized for restaurant-specific booking needs.
• MyCOMMERCE Online shop solution designed for SMEs, enabling businesses to sell products and services directly online through an integrated e-commerce platform.
• MyWEBSITE Professional website creation service at a fixed price, including SEO-optimized texts, free content updates, and templates with various functions.
• SWISS LIST Basic online presence package providing listings on the most important online platforms; entry-level digital visibility solution for SMEs.
• local.ch Switzerland's strongest booking platform with over 500,000 businesses listed, evolved from the telephone directory into a modern directory with booking capabilities, filters, and business profile features.
• search.ch Directory platform offering detailed company information with functions including route and leisure planners, public transport timetables and tickets, and weather information.
• VERGLEICH CH Comparison platform encompassing 55 comparison platforms with over 140,000 providers across beauty, health, crafts, lifestyle and business sectors.
• renovero Switzerland's leading craftsman platform facilitating connections between qualified tradespeople and clients seeking services.
• Localcities Switzerland's modern municipality platform providing local government information and services.
• MyCAMPAIGNS Campaign management tool for creating and managing online advertising campaigns.

Quantifiable outcome

• 80% of consumers use search engines to research SMEs they don't already know
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration5 records

Feature5 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Künzler Bachmann Directmarketing AGminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerThird-party data partner that processes personal data in accordance with their own privacy policy as a data controller for their own purposes, including address database comparison, validation, and updates for localsearch's directory services.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Direct peers

• Yelp: Operates one of the largest local business directories and review platforms globally, with a similar SME-targeted advertising and listing business model. Yelp and localsearch both monetize SMBs via subscriptions, premium placements, and display advertising on their consumer-facing directories.
• Trustpilot: Operates a consumer review platform with subscription-based plans for businesses to manage reviews and brand presence. Comparable to localsearch's review management and listing offerings for SMEs seeking to influence the 56% of consumers swayed by reviews when booking.
• Angi (formerly Angie's List): Leads the US home services lead-generation marketplace connecting homeowners with tradespeople. Directly comparable to localsearch's renovero platform, with a similar paid-lead / subscription monetization model for service professionals.
• OpenTable: Restaurant reservation platform monetized via SaaS subscriptions and per-cover fees. Closest functional peer to localsearch's MyLOCALINA reservation tool, with comparable booking integration into directory/discovery surfaces.
• Comparis: Switzerland's leading price-comparison platform across insurance, telecom, banking, and other verticals. Direct peer to localsearch's VERGLEICH CH comparison platform universe, both monetizing Swiss consumer comparison traffic via lead generation.
• Treatwell: Online booking platform for hair, beauty, and wellness services, with strong Swiss presence via treatwell.ch. Comparable to localsearch's MyCOCKPIT and MyLOCALINA offerings for salons and service businesses requiring appointment booking.

Broad incumbents

• Google Business Profile: Google's free business listing and local advertising platform is the dominant global alternative for SME local discovery. It directly competes with local.ch/search.ch for SME attention and competes for the same SME advertising budgets via Google Ads and Performance Max.
• Wix: Cloud-based website builder serving SMEs and small businesses globally with tiered subscriptions. Directly comparable to localsearch's MyWEBSITE offering, both targeting price-sensitive Swiss/European SMEs seeking turnkey web presence.
• HubSpot: Comprehensive CRM and marketing automation platform with freemium SaaS tiers for SMEs. Comparable to localsearch's all-in-one digitalONE positioning and the HubSpot integration in MyCOCKPIT, competing for the same SME marketing-stack budget.
• Yext: Digital presence platform managing business listings, reviews, and local SEO across hundreds of publishers. Closest functional peer to localsearch's SWISS LIST and digitalONE multi-platform presence products, targeting multi-location SMEs.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Instagraminstagram.com/localsearch
• Xx.com/localsearch_ch
• Facebookfacebook.com/localsearch1
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/6574432

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Subsidiaries5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A1 record

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about localsearch