LinkedIn Unveils App to Compete with Corporate Directory

LinkedIn wants to replace the corporate directory. The professional social-networking company Wednesday unveiled an app called LinkedIn Lookup that allows users to search and message colleagues. Users can search by name, title, experience, education or skills. LinkedIn says roughly 30% of members use the service to find coworkers because it is often more comprehensive and up-to-date than internal directories. In April, LinkedIn surveyed 814 professionals in North America and found just 38% use their companies’ internal directory to get information about coworkers. In its search results, LinkedIn Lookup shows coworkers first, rather than first-degree connections as in the main LinkedIn app. Lookup also displays users’ corporate email addresses. The app is limited to users with a LinkedIn profile whose employer maintains a page on the site. Users only have access to people who say they work for the same employer. The app doesn’t show endorsements, recommendations or mutual connections. Development of the Lookup app was reported by The Wall Street Journal in June. A LinkedIn spokesman said the company was not focusing on how to make money from the app yet.