Success with new media (which was the catchphrase of IBM’s recent report on the Media Divide) is all about tapping into the decidedly consumer-centric Web 2.0 medium, where content is user-generated and accessed through open platforms.

Take the popular Web 2.0 company, Yelp, for example. The San Francisco-based social networking and user review website hosts an online database of user-generated reviews of local businesses. Visitors interested in locating a specific product or service may search listings by geographic location and ratings, among other fields, to find businesses of particular interest to them. The website also has a forum for online socialization and to discuss local businesses and events.

Their success derives from merging these two components local reviews and social networking. The combination increases web traffic and other usage numbers by making the site more entertaining to use.

The Yelp model has been emulated by many fledging companies as of late, including one in the competitive Canadian market. Last July, n49 Interactive a Toronto based Internet media company launched an innovative new business directory at www.n49.ca which calls on Canadians to rate, review, and share their experiences with local restaurants, retailers and other service providers.

Like Yelp, n49.ca combines a comprehensive local business directory with the power of online social networking. But it also offers something completely new: every n49 member receives a unique URL (username.n49.ca), which features their profile, directory, links to friend’s profiles, favorite listings, and business reviews.

In an interesting move, n49 offers a personal URL to every member, wrote Greg Sterling in his blog, Screenwerk. That approach seeks to get people to take more ownership of the site and promote it to their friends undoubtedly.

N49 also offers a twist on the traditional directory by allowing members to maintain and enhance business listings. Using a wiki type format, members can add or edit company info and remove failed businesses faster than any print directory or automated search engine ever could.

“Canadians have embraced Web 2.0 and its community-based networks, like Facebook, even more than their American counterparts,” said n49 President Rick Silver in a press release. n49.ca is the online version of word of mouth. We have introduced a uniquely Canadian site where anyone north of the 49th parallel can create and share their own local business directory for free.