PORTSMOUTH, Va., Nov. 29 /PRNewswire/ -- Borrell Associates Inc., a
leading research and consulting firm covering local advertising, today
released a report, "Independent City Sites Gain Steam," detailing a new crop
of local Web site competitors. Hundreds of independent sites are elbowing in
on territory that traditional local media have been trying to stake out for
the past decade, but with a decidedly different model. These competitors shun
local news, obituaries and classified ads, focusing almost exclusively on fun
and interesting things to do around town.
Many of these independent local sites are reporting revenues well into six
figures, and some recently formed their own trade group, Associated Cities. A
flurry of acquisitions has begun as well, including a $500,000 acquisition for
a "City.com" URL, and a $12 million offer by a newspaper publisher for
LasVegas.com.
"Six years ago everybody was rushing into the local space with city
guides," said Borrell's Dorian Benkoil, who authored the report. "AOL was
pursuing Digital Cities, MSN was launching Sidewalk and CitySearch was
everywhere. They all retrenched or abandoned the space. But with tremendous
growth in local advertising in the past two years, city guides and local
independent city sites are back with a vengeance."
"The next couple of years are going to see some feisty battles between
independent city sites and local media like newspapers, radio and TV," Benkoil
added. "They're all going to encroach on each others' areas and some won't
survive."
Benkoil said that while most of the sites are still a small blip on the
local radar, they are tapping high-growing revenues streams that traditional
media sites often miss: travel, entertainment and recreation advertising,
which has shifted heavily toward the Web. "These sites typically focus on a
locality's features and attractions, as opposed to a newspaper or TV Web site,
which bear the costs of providing news and information about the market."
The full report can be found at http://borrellassociates.com/report.cfm.
About Borrell Associates Inc.: BAI is an executive-level research and
consulting firm for local media companies and Internet pure-plays. The company
focuses on online advertising and conducts detailed WebAudits(TM) for local
markets and Internet verticals. Borrell Associates' primary strength is fact-
based analysis of advertising trends, powered by its propriety database of
local ad spending and receipts.
SOURCE Borrell Associates Inc.
 back to top
Related links:
http://www.borrellassociates.com
CONTACT:
Colby Atwood of Borrell Associates Inc.,
+1-206-463-3181, or catwood@borrrellassociates.com
|
