Yellow Pages

What Yellow Pages does

Yellow Pages is a multi-jurisdictional digital business directory operator founded in 1950 and headquartered in Johannesburg, South Africa, with a workforce of 251-500 employees. The company has transitioned from its origins as a telephone-based directory service into an online platform serving small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and larger corporations with digital visibility solutions. Its core platforms include yellowpages.co.za for the South African market and the integrated Yep! marketplace ecosystem (mall.yep.co.za), which extends the directory into a hyperlocal online marketplace distributed via dedicated iOS, Android, and Huawei AppGallery applications. The company's technology stack is centered on a web-based business directory and online platform, providing verified listings, category-based discovery, and location-tagged business profiles across categories such as home services, automotive, medical, agriculture, and legal services.

Beyond South Africa, the company operates yellowpages.ca — a Canadian business directory ranked #2 among Canada's top 100 business directories by website traffic as of September 2025, per a Canada Online study — supporting Canadian SMEs with verified online listings. In 2026 the company launched Yellowpages World Now, a multilingual news aggregation platform targeting U.S. professionals seeking Swiss and European business intelligence; the platform aggregates content from NZZ, Le Temps, and Corriere del Ticino and surfaces headlines in multiple languages with deep links to original publisher sources.

The business model is anchored in directory listings, premium placements, and advertising sold to SMEs across multiple regions. Pricing is not publicly disclosed. Geographic positioning spans North America (USA, Canada) and South Africa. The company is privately held, with no disclosed parent company, institutional investors, or funding rounds; ownership structure is otherwise unverified in the available sources.

Name

Yellow Pages

Legal name

Yellow Pages

Website

https://yellowpages.co.za

Company type

Private

Founded year

1950

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

251–500 employees

Short description

Yellow Pages operates digital business directories and the Yep! marketplace serving SMEs and consumers across South Africa, Canada, and the U.S., with multilingual Swiss news aggregation via the Yellowpages World Now platform.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Online Business Directory

NAICS

Newspaper Publishers (51311), Newspaper Publishers (513110), Periodical Publishers (513120), Grocery and Convenience Retailers (4451)

SIC

Newspapers: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2711), Retail-Nonstore Retailers (5960)

akta.pro primary industry

Local & Regional Newspapers (Print & Digital) (MPAJADAB)

Keywords

• Online business directory
• Digital marketing services
• Local marketplace platform
• SME digital solutions
• Business listing platform

Headquarters

HQ city

Johannesburg

HQ country

South Africa

HQ region

Africa

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Distribution channels1 record

Core offering

Yellow Pages operates a digital business directory and online marketplace platform connecting SMEs, corporations, and consumers. The company provides verified business listings, digital marketing services, regional directories (yellowpages.ca, yellowpages.co.za), the Yellowpages World Now multilingual news aggregation platform, and the Yep Mall marketplace serving local South African businesses.

Product overview

Yellow Pages operates as a business directory platform with multiple regional properties. The primary offering includes yellowpages.ca, a Canadian business directory helping businesses with online visibility through verified listings. Additionally, Yellowpages World Now serves as a multilingual news aggregation platform providing Swiss business news to U.S. professionals.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Yellowpages World Now: A dedicated platform aggregating Swiss business news and press releases in multiple languages for U.S. professionals

Products and services

• Yellowpages World Now

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• NZZ (Neue Zürcher Zeitung)coreOthers · 30 April 2026Content partnership providing access to headlines from NZZ, one of Switzerland's leading business publications, with direct links to original sources through the Yellowpages World Now platform
• Le TempscoreOthers · 30 April 2026Content partnership providing Swiss business news headlines from Le Temps newspaper with direct links to original sources
• Corriere del TicinocoreOthers · 30 April 2026Content partnership providing Italian-language Swiss business news from Corriere del Ticino with direct links to original sources

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Yelp: Yelp operates a global business directory and review platform connecting consumers with local SMBs. It is directly comparable to Yellow Pages' directory business model (verified listings, advertising for SMEs, lead generation) and overlaps with the consumer-discovery proposition underpinning both yellowpages.ca and Yep Mall.
• Thumbtack: Thumbtack runs a marketplace connecting consumers with local professionals across trades, home services, and events. It is directly comparable to Yep Mall's marketplace model, targeting the same SMB-to-consumer discovery workflow that Yellow Pages is pivoting toward in South Africa.
• Yellow Pages Canada (YP Canada): YP Canada operates the Canadian Yellow Pages digital directory and is the same brand as the subject company's yellowpages.ca product. While these appear to be the same or affiliated entity, YP Canada is the most direct comparable for understanding directory traffic dynamics, ARPU, and SMB advertising benchmarks in the Canadian market.
• Gumtree: Gumtree operates classifieds and local marketplace platforms in multiple countries including South Africa. It is directly comparable to Yep Mall as a regional SMB-to-consumer marketplace, and competes for the same local advertising dollar that Yellow Pages pursues.
• Bark.com: Bark.com is a global services marketplace operating across 10+ countries, matching customers with local professionals. Comparable to Yep Mall's SMB marketplace model and to Yellow Pages' directory pivot, particularly in its multi-category, multi-geography rollout strategy.
• Justdial: Justdial is an India-based local search and directory platform serving SMBs across categories. Comparable to Yellow Pages in offering multi-category business listings with paid discovery features, and relevant for understanding the emerging-market SMB advertising playbook that Yellow Pages could pursue across its geographies.
• TrustATrader: TrustATrader is a UK-based directory and marketplace for vetted local tradespeople. Comparable to both Yellow Pages' directory heritage and Yep Mall's trades/home services categories, with a similar business model of paid listings plus lead generation.
• Angi (formerly Angie's List): Angi operates a leading home services marketplace connecting consumers with local professionals. Directly comparable to the trades/home services verticals in Yep Mall and to the broader SMB lead-generation model that Yellow Pages has historically monetized.

Broad incumbents

• Apple Maps Connect: Apple Maps Connect provides free business listing management within Apple Maps. As a broader platform incumbent, it competes for the same SMB listing and discovery workflow that underlies Yellow Pages' directory products, and is part of the structural shift eroding paid directory economics.
• Google Business Profile: Google Business Profile (formerly Google My Business) provides free business listings that surface across Google Search and Maps. It is a broad incumbent that has structurally disrupted traditional directory businesses like Yellow Pages globally, and represents the primary competitive force shaping the subject company's digital pivot.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/yellowpagessa
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/yellowpagessa

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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

M&A

Investments

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

Frequently asked questions about Yellow Pages