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Montreal, October 30, 2008 – Transcontinental
Media is pleased to announce the launch of weblocal.ca,
an online search site for finding and reviewing local businesses,
products or services in communities across Canada. Highly
interactive, weblocal.ca is driven by content shared by users
such as recommendations, ratings and reviews, as well as pictures
and videos.
In addition to this, users can also access editorial content
and reviews from other Web sites, create a profile and build
a community of friends and neighbours, and take advantage
of mobile search functions. Weblocal.ca
searches an enriched and complete database of all businesses
in Canada, and delivers detailed business information that
may include opening hours, payment methods, price lists, and
menus, which complements the user-generated content that makes
weblocal.ca
unique.
“Providing local community content and solutions has
been identified as one of Transcontinental’s key growth
opportunities for the future,” said François
Oliver, President and Chief Executive Officer, Transcontinental
Inc. “Weblocal.ca
gives Canadians a truly unique way to ‘find, rate, share’
the businesses and services they love, and it will complement
Transcontinental’s existing portfolio of daily and community
newspapers, magazines and websites.”
Marc-N. Ouellette, Senior Vice President, Newspaper Group,
Transcontinental Media, added, “With Transcontinental’s
established local sales force of over 400 representatives,
and its online portfolio of over 125 websites, we have an
incredible opportunity to build a very meaningful and useful
online resource for consumers and advertisers. With weblocal.ca,
we offer a unique platform for local businesses to increase
their visibility, manage their business profile and share
with their community.”
Weblocal.ca,
a joint venture in partnership with YellowBot, a leading US-based
local search company, is a wholly-owned property of Transcontinental
Media. YellowBot was recently recognized as the most innovative
new search engine by Search Engine Strategies.
About Transcontinental Media
The fourth-largest print media group in Canada, with more
than 3,000 employees and annual revenues of $633 million
in 2007, Transcontinental Media is the country’s leading
publisher of consumer magazines and of French-language educational
resources as well as being the largest publisher of community
newspapers in Eastern Canada. It publishes the weekday daily
Métro in Montreal, owns a number of digital business
units, and is also, through Publi-Sac, Quebec’s leading
door-to-door distributor of advertising material.
Transcontinental Media is a subsidiary of Transcontinental
Inc. (TSX: TCL.A, TCL.B), which has more than 15,000 employees
in Canada, the United States and Mexico and reported revenues
of C$2.3 billion in 2007.
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For information:
Media
Nessa Prendergast
Director, Media Relations
Transcontinental Inc.
Telephone: (514) 954 2809
nessa.prendergast@transcontinental.ca
Financial Community
Jennifer F. McCaughey
Director, Investor Relations
Transcontinental Inc.
Telephone: (514) 954 2821
jennifer.mccaughey@transcontinental.ca
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