Online local classifieds site LiveDeal.com has launched AdShare, enabling offline media companies to start branded online classifieds Web sites and compete against established Internet classified businesses for market share.
Through AdShare, newspapers, radio and television stations can extend their offline offerings with online classifieds Web sites that can contain photos, e-commerce and e-mail capabilities.
The $17 billion classifieds industry continues to migrate online. Newspapers could lose $4 billion in classifieds revenue to Internet listings by 2007, according to a recent study by McKinsey & Co. The threat is largest in the jobs, cars and real estate categories where media analyst firm Borrell Associates estimates newspapers generate approximately 70 percent of ad revenues.
“Media companies are struggling to protect their eroding classifieds market share, but have lacked a sophisticated technology platform to effectively compete with online classifieds players and conglomerates with deep pockets,” said Rajesh Navar, founder and CEO of LiveDeal.com.
In an example of how AdShare works, Clear Channel Radio San Francisco partnered with LiveDeal to create SFBayAuto.com, an online autos classifieds site for the listeners of the company’s Bay Area radio stations, according to Scott Coane, director of AM sales, Clear Channel Radio San Francisco.
LiveDeal creates a free media-branded classifieds Web site for its AdShare partner, and pre-populates the site with local classified listings from LiveDeal’s existing customer base. The Web site includes the partner’s logo, brand and URL, for example, “www.YourBrand.com.”
The partner promotes its classifieds Web site through its online and offline offerings and earns revenue on listing upgrades and lead-generation programs. Media companies can cross-sell online advertising, up-sell traditional print advertisers to online listings, and take part in online pay-per-lead programs in the highly lucrative automotive, real estate and employment verticals.
LiveDeal formally launched in late 2004.
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