kgb (stylized in lower case) is a

privately held A privately held company (or simply a private company) is a company whose Stock, shares and related rights or obligations are not offered for public subscription or publicly negotiated in their respective listed markets. Instead, the Private equi ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

–based company that provides

directory assistance In telecommunications, directory assistance or directory inquiries is a phone service used to find out a specific telephone number and/or address of a residence, business, or government entity. Technology Directory assistance systems incorporate ...

and enhanced information services across Europe and North America. It describes itself as "the world’s largest independent provider of directory assistance and enhanced information services." Founded in 1992 by Robert Pines under the name INFONXX, the company rebranded in 2008. Our History">"About us > Our History
, company website. Retrieved 2017-04-03. The term knowledge generation bureau is from an advertising copy line, and is not the name of the company, which is kgb. In 2003, after the UK yellow pages directory market has been opened, kgb launched

118 118 (UK) 118 118 is the UK telephone number for a US owned Directory assistance, directory enquiries provider. Once wildly popular for its advertising featuring two runners, the service has experienced a dramatic decline in calls due to easily accessible ...

, a UK directory enquiries provider that assists customers with telephone number enquiries and general queries. After the success of 118 118 in the UK, kgb launched 118 218 in France when the French market has been opened. Thanks to a very good advertising campaign, it became quickly and is still the most used directory assistance service in France with around 200,000 calls each day on the phone number. Its 118218.fr website was in the top 100 French websites based on traffic. In December 2008, kgb acquired

Texperts Texperts was a UK-based SMS question-and-answer service. In December 2008, Texperts was bought by the United States–based Knowledge Generation Bureau, operator of the 118 118 services, a directory services company which had also entered t ...

, a

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

–based firm, in order to benefit from their "innovative software platform and industry experience." Shortly afterwards, in January 2009, kgb launched a new suite of products in the United States, providing answers to customers’ questions through multiple platforms. The first is through a

mobile search Mobile may refer to: Places * Mobile, Alabama, a U.S. port city * Mobile County, Alabama * Mobile, Arizona, a small town near Phoenix, U.S. * Mobile, Newfoundland and Labrador Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels * Mobile (b ...

service known as 542542 (kgbkgb). It launched January 5, 2009, following the launch of the similar 118118 "Ask Us Anything" service in the United Kingdom. In February 2013, after investigation by the

US Department of Labor The United States Department of Labor (DOL) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government. It is responsible for the administration of federal laws governing occupational safety and health, wage and hour standards, unemp ...

, a judge ordered kgb to pay $1.3 million to internet researchers who had been sharply underpaid. The company has also entered the internet group buying space with a business called kgbdeals. kgbdeals seeks to offer lifestyle deals to consumers in the US, UK, France and Italy.

542542 (kgbkgb)

542542 is an "Ask Anything 2-way text service", whereby

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

users can submit questions via

SMS Short Message Service, commonly abbreviated as SMS, is a text messaging service component of most telephone, Internet and mobile device systems. It uses standardized communication protocols that let mobile phones exchange short text messages, t ...

for a cost of $1.49 per question.

Class action lawsuit

In January 2013, kgb USA settled to pay $1.3 million in unpaid minimum wage and overtime wages to 14,000 current and former employees.Reibstein, Richard J.; Lisa B. Petkun and Andrew J. Rudolph
"KGB USA, text message and internet information provider, settles independent contractor misclassification claim with U.S. Department of Labor for $1.3 million"

Pepper Hamilton Troutman Pepper Locke LLP is an international law firm with more than 1,600 attorneys located in 32 U.S. cities and London. The firm was formed on January 1, 2025, as a merger of Troutman Pepper and Locke Lord. Background Before the merger ...

LLP, January 24, 2013. The lawsuit alleged that from January 19, 2009 to December 4, 2012, kgb USA repeatedly violated the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) by (1) misclassifying the Special Agents as independent contractors instead of employees, (2) failing to pay minimum wage and overtime amounts, and (3) failing to make, keep, and preserve adequate and accurate employment-related records of the “Special Agents.”

References

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External links

Official website
Telecommunication services Companies based in New York (state) SMS-based question answering services