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MerchantCircle

MerchantCircle

www.merchantcircle.com
Los Altos, Calif.
Founded 2005 by Ben T. Smith IV and Wayne Yamamoto

Businesses are encouraged to "claim" a profile on the site that features maps, store directions, and photos; each profile offers a section for customers to post reviews. The company says its niche is letting users review businesses in tiny towns—some of which have less than 1,000 people and aren't featured on the larger review sites. (Try searching for "candles in Archer, Fla".) The firm makes money by selling advertising packages to businesses and will also place the business on local directories for a fee.

Traffic: According to MerchantCircle, at the beginning of 2008, 280,000 companies had claimed their listing on the site; today, that number is 550,000 businesses. It now has 7,500 merchants who pay for the company's advertising packages, 15 times the number it had at the beginning of 2008.