Whitepages spins out its caller-ID business as Hiya to take on TrueCaller

Some changes underway at WhitePages.com, the company that compiles public record databases on people and businesses: it is spinning out its caller ID operations and app as a new business called Hiya. Its free app, which helps users ID who is behind the numbers calling them, will compete against the likes of TrueCaller, but Hiya will also continue on the business track it has already been travelling: it already has some 25 million users of its services by way of deals with T-Mobile and phone giant Samsung, the company says.

Whitepages in the meantime will  continue to focus on building out its people search and identity verification services.

If you have followed news from WhitePages in the past — the company started as a project when founder Alex Algard was still a student at Stanford back in 1997 — you might know that WhitePages actually had an app called Hiya before: in 2011, Hiya was an app that helped clean up your address book, similar to the now-defunct Brewster and other contact databases. Now, it seems, the company has repurposed the brand (and URL) for its new business.

Algard, who eventually left but then rejoined WhitePages, will be leading the Hiya business (presumably stepping back once again from WhitePages). He says that the company decided to spin off Hiya to capitalise on a bigger interest among consumers in battling phone spam.

“We have had great traction incubating our caller ID business at Whitepages, but as the market need for caller ID and spam protection services heats up, and in order to capitalize on the growth opportunity ahead of us, we must focus 100%, without distractions, on building a better phone experience for our users,” he said.