Introducing type ahead for companies

We’ve just released our first version of a standardized company directory. This directory is a foundational component for enhancing a variety of features on LinkedIn, such as colleague reconnect, company search, and job search. We will also be able to leverage this directory to build brand new features, which will be announced in the coming months.

The directory was built using some high powered analytics and the data that users have provided about their companies. There is a rich database of companies in this release, and we will be gradually adding more companies over time.

If you don’t see your company in the type ahead, go ahead and put it on your profile and we’ll pick it up with a future iteration.

What does it look like?

When you are adding or editing a position on your profile, you will be able to start typing your company name and we’ll suggest some matches based on what you type. The matches include both alphabetical matches as well as related companies, such as subsidiaries and parent companies.

After you select a company from the list, we will pre-populate the company display name, industry, size, type, and ticker symbol whenever the information is available. You are free to edit these fields on your profile.

You can try out the new type ahead by adding or editing a position on your profile. Leave a comment with any questions.