In May the directory sites eliminated all display advertising on its sites in favor of a clean look, with a single column of business listings on each of its 15,000 pages. The new site design enables iPad, iPhone, Android and other wireless device users to more effectively utilize the directories to find relevant businesses. The Colorado Springs, Colorado based company, CityStar Group, Inc., built new servers for the CityStar sites, providing faster searches and page loads. Last week the page speed was practically doubled when javascript and graphics optimizations were implemented.
The directories also function as search engines focused on local cities. For instance, the New York City directory site features 42 categories of local business websites, all ranked according to the rules of CityStar's proprietary "Page Status" system.
CityStar was established in Colorado Springs in 1996 as a local directory site. Over the following decade, the company expanded throughout Colorado, then regionally, nationally, and finally, internationally into 20 countries and 4,890 localities.
