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Jared Launius and Hojong Kim with RJI fellow Peter Meng. It starts with a problem…. Newspapers have lost an estimated $16 billion in classified ad revenues since the advent of Craigslist 15 years ago Fact: this has helped contribute to the closing of several newspapers
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It starts with a problem… • Newspapers have lost an estimated $16 billion in classified ad revenues since the advent of Craigslist 15 years ago • Fact: this has helped contribute to the closing of several newspapers • Opinion: as a side-effect, it has impacted the quality of news, particularly local news
…and it’s difficult to address • Craigslist leaves approximately $6 billion on the table every year • Fact: It would take an estimated $1 billion in advertising to take them head on • Opinion: that is a lot of money
AdFreeq: an introduction • A white-label site operated and branded through local online publications, primarily newspapers • Cloud-based – operates and updates in real time using ads in system, on social media • Offers free and low-cost ads to sellers • Offers reliable, instant products to buyers
So, back to that problem… • Isn’t a 1 vs. 1 battle • “Instead of David vs. Goliath, it’s thousands of Davids vs. one Goliath.” • Ads can bring in revenues for publications • Users have access to system they can trust
Our involvement • Goals revolved around getting product ready for the market • Conduct research on both host and consumer markets • Discover best way to organize ad categories • Work with potential clients • Produce and develop content to market the product
Research …of potential users …of potential hosts What we wanted to know What’s their current system? Proprietary? Custom? Free? Paid-for? What are their levels of satisfaction with their current models? What social media does the publication already integrate to push content? • What we wanted to know • How receptive are users to using a classified system that charges? How much will they pay? • Do users already use social media to buy and sell products? • Does it matter to them who’s running the system?
Survey of potential users Conducted on SurveyMonkey • 308 respondents • 67 percent were female • 94 percent were college age • Disseminated over J-school ListServ and over social media
What we learned from potential hosts • Survey was conducted thanks to help from RJI • Sent nine-question survey to over 5,000 publications • 285 took survey • 50% were rural publications and 50% were weeklies
What we learned from hosts What is the average price per week to post a classified ad in your publication? Also, please indicate whether you offer free classified ad postings. • $35 for 35 words or 7 lines for 2 insertion in English or Punjabi papers / Classified Display ad $45 for B&W and $ 55 for Color per insertion of 3.25"(W) x 2" (H). • $15.00 plus tax plus free on our web site. • $37.50 and yes we do off FREE classified ads on Tue, Wed, and Thur. • $15.36 for a 20 word ad free lost and found ads free ads for giveaways. • $19.95 line ad $37.45 1x1 classified display for two issues. • $50 is the average. We offer a free ad for private party merchandise items valued under $500. 1 per month allowed. The ad size is a 1/4" depth (we have a 4 column format). • $50.96 for a 4-line ad. We do offer a Grandma's Attic feature for articles selling for under $500. The price of ad is based on the asking price of the item. $25 and under are FREE. • We offer free private party ads. Paid private party ads start at $5/week. Commercial classified ads start at $15.70 per week. • Average price $20 However, we do offer some free classifieds. • Depends on the category Merchandise- $22.50 Auto-$39.50 Real Estate-$59.50 Pets/Announcements/ -$39.50. • That is a difficult question to answer as we have some private party ads that cost as little a $10 on and then employment ads that are very expensive. No FREE ads – • The cost great depends on what type of advertising you are doing. There are different rates for private party vs. commercial businesses vs. recruitment.
Classified taxonomies • Studied and analyzed taxonomies from some 15 different classified sites • Used that research to build a list of our own that could potentially be used as a model for AdFreeq to organize its items
Involvement with clients • Originally planned to work with and manage clients in test markets • Were able to make several connections via survey
Supporting content • Developed a substantial amount of content for Peter to use at fairs, presentations, etc. • Made site mock-ups, research summaries, infographics based on our research, animations and posters