RefreshClassifieds

Techcrunch is reporting that OLX.com raised $13M from General Catalyst, Bessemer Venture Partners, Founders Fund, and DN Capital.  OLX.com aims to compete with Craigslist and other free classified sites but seems.
The most interesting aspect of the OLX business plan is perhaps their partnership to white label their site with Friendster.com, the social networking site.    Unlike the early Oodle partnership with Facebook, the Friendster relationship seems to provide OLX as the exclusive classified site.

OLX.com is also very popular outside of the US and a great web experience for users.    The sites traffic has been relatively flat over the last year and it would appear that a growth strategy for North America is required.

Overall its great to see a Classified sites still getting funding with Craigslist and Kijiji competing so actively.

Editor & Publisher, a journal covering the Newspaper industry, is reporting that SFGate.com and Tulley’s Coffee have engaged in a test program to provide LCDs in Tulley Coffee locations with free access to SFGate.com.   Access is currently limited to news updates but may include Classified Information in the future.

We thought this was an excellent example of a Newspaper thinking outside of its traditional distribution mechanisms.  We hope to get more feedback on the test program and inclusion of Classified Information.

Finditt.com has added Dating to its list of Classified Services.  Finditt.com has done reasonably well as a search engine/business directory but has recently been expanding into more of the classified markets.   The focus for Finditt.com seems to be on creating small micro-sites for different business verticals.  Recently they added a specialized Sushi Category to their Business Directory for this reason.

Its not clear whether this approach of creating micro-sites will help or hinder Finditt.com.  Creating too many fragment sites or sections may confuse consumers who want the simplicity of a Google like interface with multiple searches from a single interface.  It could be argued thought that by specializing they can create a more unique experience for users interested in that category and provide a more indepth experience.  In anycase it will be interesting to see if Finditt.com can apply all the resources required to develop each category.

SellandRentbyOwner.com has launched into the already competitive market of free classified sites. The focus of the site is on Real Estate, Automotive, Recreational Vehicles and Boats. The site is well designed and fairly easy to place listings. One area we didn’t like was forcing the user to create an account to start this process. We thought it would have been better to have the user start creating their listing and then prompt for a username/password near the end of the process.

The most innovate aspect of the SellandRentbyOwner.com site is the sponsorship arrangement. Listings are currently free because of sponsorship by Barkley Chiropractic. We thought this was innovate approach to generating revenue from a free classified service while creating a benefit for commercial advertisers and keep the classified listings free. We did not see any search engine optimization or online media strategy that would set this apart of the many others in the space.

Computershopper.com has announced the launch of their Marketplace.Computershopper.com classified site for users to buy and sell used computer equipment.  The site has partners with Edgeio.com to deliver the Marketplace classified site.  Computer Shopper magazine has been a market leader, providing Computer trends and buying information to consumers for over 27 years.  Its a natural extension for it to launch a classified site to further support its brand.

Generally the market for Computer Classifieds is relative small with computer equipment becoming out of date quite fast and the ability to liquidate through classified sites rather limited.  With Computer Shopppers strong brand through the site should be well positioned to focus on the Computer Classified segment.   All ads are free but must be related to computer equipment and can contain up to 4 pictures.

No commercial terms for the partnership with Edgeio.com were disclosed.

PressMediaWire.com, a leading provider of business press releases, blogs and event promotion has launched a business directory service.  The service is currently accepting business listings and waiving the initial listing fee.  Basic business listings are free and must meet the following criteria:

• Must be an English language website or English translation available.
• Must be well designed and maintained. Sites with broken links and missing images will not qualify.
• Sites must have their own domain.
• Titles and descriptions can only have capital letters only at the beginning of the words. TOP LEVEL CATEGORIES REQUIRE FEATURED LISTINGS. We reserve the right to move non-featured listings where we deem appropriate.
• Symbols and numbers are not accepted at the beginning of the title unless your URL starts with a number.
• Submit only top-level domains. Do not submit individual pages of the website or sub-domains.
• Submit to only one category.
• Spamming is not tolerated and will result in your site being banned from our directory.
• Sites with only banners and or excessive pop ups/under will not be accepted.
• Your site includes any type of pornographic materials, hate materials, adult materials, racial materials, or unlawful practice.

Premium listings are also available for $19.95/month and include priority listing in display and a basic PR package. By combining the directory listing with basic PR services PressmediaWire.com is providing an excellent service to differentiate themselves from more traditional directory advertising providers.  

Edgeio.com is a content aggregator for classified listings around the world. The site also  provides tools for classified advertisers to republish to Edgeio.com or through the Edgeio classified boards.  Through the Edgeio Classified Boards,  third-party sites can add classified content to their own website without developing any new software.

Edgeio’s strategy is that the classifieds are provided to third-party sites for free and Edgeio does not provide them with no payment for this service. Edgeio has determined that many sites are looking for classified content and use it to draw more visitors to the site.  This provides a mutual benefit to both Edgeio and its partners who want maximum exposure for their advertising.

It would appear that most of the partner sites are fairly small currently but they do have several larger partners listed and as the number of smaller sites grows it may become more dominant that the a group.  Its another nice extension of the Longtail with many smaller sites being as effect if not more so than some of the larger media sites.

Edgeio seems to have a seasoned management team that is well connect with online media trends.  Edgio has its own wiki to provide user documentation and more information about the company.  The management team contribute to a blog with current events about the company and its business, and Michael Arrington, the founder of TechCrunch.com sits on the board.

CozyBug.com has launched a new classified site focused around larger items traditionally more difficult to sell through classifieds. The site hopes to connect buyers and sellers through Swap Spots. Swap spots are local businesses that assist with getting buyer and seller together and may be able to assist with some the logistics moving large items.

The Swap Spots are an interesting innovation. For years one of the challenges in the classified industry is handling and moving larger items like appliances and furniture. By creating an additional aide to support this system Cozybug should be able to drive additional value for both the classified advertiser and buyer.

Like most new classified sites, basic advertising is free with small charges for additional details like more photos. The site also features rich content for the classified ads and includes a mapping feature for garage sales. Cozybug hopes the rich media will help differentiate it from competitive sites.

Autobytel has launched MyRide.com, a new Automotive with a more focused community experience. Car lovers can use video, audio, multiple pictures, message boards and even blogs to description their favourite cars. The site includes feature articles on popular automotive topics like Hot Rods and Classics but also includes more environmentally friendly topics like Driving Green.

By combining more social features into the site Autobytel hosts to create more of a meeting place for car enthusiasts. The site will be expanded shortly with feature car calendars and car club events. The site is built on the KickApps social media functionality.

The site still features new and use automotive classified ads and this is expected to be the primary revenue source. Its not clear how the site will connect the car fans with the classified listings though. Currently the functionality appears to be very separate so while the new features may drive traffic to the site it might not generate additional interest in the classified listings. The site is a good first attempt at bring social media to the Automotive classified space.

Yesterday AT&T launched a new directory assistance service called AT&T 1-800-YellowPages. Consumers looking for a particular product can call the directory service and get a business number or be connected directly if the listen to a audio ads. The ads 5-10s long and advertise other businesses to the consumer. Its not clear if the audio ads are directly competitive with the heading that the consumer is calling about.

The Yellowpages Group in Canada runs as similar service called YELO, at 310-YELO but they provide the service exclusively to Yellowpages advertisers so the service is funded as part of the business’s advertising purchase.   There are no audio ads or delay except for the businesses that the consumer is trying to connect with.

Looking at the AT&T approach I can see a few problems with competitor conflict and it seems to decrease the value to the AT&T Yellowpages advertiser. Especially consumer’s have a harder time finding them through the directory assistance or have to wait through numerous audio ads.

The AT&T product strategy reminds me of the double-dip situation you see in many Classified sites where the consumer is charged to see the ads and the advertiser is charged to advertise. These double-dip situations are very difficult to pull off with low cost of the internet and level of competitive classified solutions. Eventually the advertiser and consumer will find a more available method to connect.