What makes a good market? Plenty of buyers and sellers certainly. But with competition in the web classifieds space pushing the value of all listings to zero, capturing critical mass through disruptive pricing tactics will no longer work. Market leadership now depends on moving past the ‘newspaper ads on the web’ model to creating true value exchanges.
It took years for newspapers to acknowledge that print classifieds were under attack by the Internet, and it may take even longer for them to realise that their newly launched web operations are also sitting ducks. The problem is in the numbers. Although the vast bulk of classified revenue still exists offline, the overall share of the combined online/offline market captured by newspapers is shrinking and all the growth is on the web. It is easy to see why this is the case. In the old days, a major metro publication had a good chance of aggregating most of the area’s eyeballs, thus making it the logical place to host a market of buyers and sellers for a variety of categories. The explosion of alternative media choices, both in print and online, has meant that at best, classified advertisers will reach some buyers, some of the time.
For markets to work, they need to aggregate close to 100% of the available inventory for sale. For example, if you are looking to buy a house, you would naturally prefer searching the real estate website which has the majority of available properties in your area. The importance of gaining total coverage has led to the rise of players such as Craigslist which offered free listings and meta classified engines such as Simply Hired which aggregate and redistribute listings from multiple sources. The problem is, the more listings become a commodity, the more difficult it is to sustain classified yields on any platform. The McKinsey geeks call it price destruction. Newspapers are calling 911.
Worse still, the price destruction effect will accelerate as the online giants Google, Yahoo and MSN use listings to acquire eyeballs and provide better integration with their web applications. In this vein, no surprise that Yahoo recently announced that Hotjobs will scrape job listings from company websites and display these ads free in its search results. Offering job seekers a consolidated view of the marketplace removes the need to use competitor services, increases the value of premium paid for listings, and also allows Yahoo to make more money on targeted keyword searches on its general index. Google will not be far behind, and may speculate that there will be a clever integration of Adwords with a meta classified job search engine.
For traditional media players to build a sustainable position in the space requires differentiating between classifieds and a true market. Like a ‘horseless carriage’, online classifieds is already an anachronism. The auction space is a good example. You could say that eBay is nothing more than the “General For Sale” and “Automotive” classified categories translated online, but that would be to miss the point. eBay’s competitive advantage doesn’t come from its critical mass of listings, but from its use of community feedback rankings and transaction fulfilment technology to create an efficient online marketplace. It is no longer enough to just introduce buyer with seller – you have to help them consummate the deal.
The same will shortly apply in the recruitment space. When all listings are free, and anyone can use a meta search engine to access 100% of the available job market – consumers will choose the aggregation service that adds value to the search process. When it comes to a job, people aren’t interested in a million jobs, they just want the one right one. And finding that magic job, as the old saying goes, is all about who you know. Viral hiring is already the biggest single source of successful hires in the corporate sector. Charlene Li from Forrester makes the interesting point that sooner or later the portals will integrate their social networking applications with listing results, which should make the candidate matching process more efficient. If you look at the deal between Simply Hired and Linkedin, and the recent acquisition of Workzoo by Jobster – you can see this consolidation trend in action.
Even if newspaper groups successfully transition their classified properties into online exchanges, the game is not yet over. The reason why eBay’s stock is so well down on its previous highs has nothing to do with user disgruntlement over price hikes or rumours of Meg’s hopeful defection to Disney. In the longer term, the real dark horse in the classifieds space is job candidates and retail merchants creating their own virtual markets through the use of structured RSS feeds to advertise availability, and vertical search engines to deliver demand.
If that happens before the media incumbents figure out their counter offensive, you can bet there will be more than a few extra entries in the ‘positions vacant’ supplement.






Discount cheap perfume Perfumeworldwide is place to find best deals for Discount cheap perfume, discount fragrances, discount cheap cologne, womens perfume and cheap discount designer perfume online, you can also find best deals for chanel perfume, burberry perfume, lacoste perfume, celine dion perfume, dolce gabbana perfume, jennifer lopez perfume, clinique perfume, dkny perfume, vera wang perfume, britney perfume spear
http://www.perfumeworldwide.com
Posted by: Discount cheap perfume, discount fragrances, discount cheap cologne, womens perfume and cheap discou | December 04, 2007 at 10:24 PM
MaximumHit is leading SEO Services Company UK expertise in PPC Campaign Management Firm Advertising services company uk, you can find more information about Seo, seo company, seo consultancy, seo services uk, seo uk, seo services, seo consultant
http://www.maximumhit.co.uk
Posted by: ppc management | December 04, 2007 at 10:41 PM
Internet marketing company and Search Engine Optimisation marketing services including Search Engine Optimisation, website optimization, pay per click set up and management, Web site statistic analysis, seo company, Internet Marketing Firm, SEO Firm, SEO India. Contact Maximum Hit for PPC services. ppc campaign management company UK
Posted by: PPC Compaign Company | January 03, 2008 at 05:05 PM
Internet marketing company and Search Engine Optimisation marketing services including Search Engine Optimisation, website optimization, pay per click set up and management, Web site statistic analysis, seo company, Internet Marketing Firm, SEO Firm, SEO India. Contact Maximum Hit for Search Engine Optimisation services.
http://www.maximumhit.co.uk/seo.html
Posted by: SEO Company India | January 03, 2008 at 05:07 PM
Sasta Ghar brings you exclusive cheap homes real estate property listings in India. Here you can find your dream home for buy and rental purpose. Sasta ghar is common junction for home buyers of Delhi, Noida, Gurgaon, Faridabad, Mumbai, Pune, Chandigarh, Chennai, Hyderabad, Banglore, Calcutta, Indirapuram and other cities of India. House owner have great opportunity to find supreme price for their home property by selling deal.
http://www.sastaghar.com/
Posted by: cheap home India Real Estate | January 03, 2008 at 05:09 PM
Perfumes-A Fragrance Delight For Your Senses
http://www.perfumeworldwide.com/angel_perfume.html
http://www.perfumeworldwide.com/armani_perfume.html
http://www.perfumeworldwide.com/green_tea_perfume.html
http://www.perfumeworldwide.com/gucci_perfume.html
Posted by: Fragrances | January 29, 2008 at 11:40 PM
Discount cheap perfume, discount fragrances, discount cheap cologne, womens perfume and cheap discount designer perfume online
http://www.perfumeworldwide.com/vera_wang_perfume.html
http://www.perfumeworldwide.com/lancome_perfume.html
http://www.perfumeworldwide.com/by_perfume.html
http://www.perfumeworldwide.com/baby_perfume_phat.html
Posted by: Fragrances | January 29, 2008 at 11:41 PM
http://www.brickred.com/software-testing.html
http://www.brickred.com/migration-porting.html
http://www.brickred.com/java-j2ee-development.html
http://www.brickred.com/net-development.html
Posted by: offshore outsourcing | February 12, 2008 at 07:36 PM
http://www.brickred.com/product-development.html
http://www.brickred.com/product-re-engineering.html
Posted by: offshore outsourcing | February 12, 2008 at 07:37 PM
http://www.mag-corp.com/mag_services_itoutsourcing.asp
http://www.mag-corp.com/mag_website_design.asp
http://www.mag-corp.com/mag_services_offshore.asp
http://www.mag-corp.com/mag_services_custom.asp
Posted by: Outsourcing India | April 01, 2008 at 08:07 PM
look for great wedding clothes for a beach wedding
http://www.weddingtropics.com/beach-wedding-dresses.html
Posted by: beach wedding dresses | April 04, 2008 at 09:25 PM
http://www.weddingtropics.com/informal-beach-wedding-dress.html
Posted by: beach wedding dresses | April 04, 2008 at 09:28 PM
http://www.weddingtropics.com/beach-wedding-attire.html
http://www.weddingtropics.com/linen-suits.html
Posted by: beach wedding dresses | April 04, 2008 at 09:30 PM
http://www.weddingtropics.com/groom-beach-wedding-attire.html
http://www.weddingtropics.com/wedding-pants.html
http://www.weddingtropics.com/wedding-shirts.html
Posted by: beach wedding dresses | April 04, 2008 at 09:54 PM
http://www.weddingtropics.com/linen-shirts.html
http://www.weddingtropics.com/linen-pants.html
Posted by: beach wedding dresses | April 04, 2008 at 09:56 PM
http://www.weddingtropics.com/drawstring-pants.html
http://www.weddingtropics.com/linen-guayabera-shirts.html
http://www.weddingtropics.com/hawaiian-dresses.html
Posted by: beach wedding dresses | April 04, 2008 at 09:57 PM
Szul Online Jewelry Store is a leader in Engagement Rings, Wedding Rings and Diamond Rings, Gemstone Rings, Earrings, Bracelets, Pendants, Necklaces, GIA Certified Diamonds, EGL Certified Diamonds, lets you create your own ring and design your own ring. Also has a huge selection of Platinum Engagement Rings and Wedding Bands. Huge selection of Men's Wedding Bands and Other Men's Jewelry as well
For more information visit my site : http://www.szul.com
Posted by: Diamond jewelry | May 28, 2008 at 09:16 PM
I think these comments have got slightly off-topic...
Posted by: cheap diamante | June 09, 2008 at 10:54 PM
Many southerners grow hyperbolic when describing the pain of fire ant stings, but to the connoisseur of pain, the fire ant is less than ordinary. For example, have yourself stung by the Florida harvester ant ( Pogonomyrmex badius ) for comparison purposes. The worker will painlessly slip her stinger into your skin, and before you feel anything, will inject a proteinaceous venom that is, weight for weight, 20 times as toxic as rattlesnake venom. By the time you notice that you have been stung, it is too late. ...
Posted by: anti aging skin care | June 12, 2008 at 11:43 AM
Great Blog....This is a good blog the writer makes several great points....I enjoyed to be here....
http://www.perfumesofparis.net/
Posted by: Perfume | July 14, 2008 at 06:28 PM
Although classified ads may be still bouyant as a way to selling something online or marketing/promoting a service online(as many small business owners do), many are just looking to sell and not buy.
I think the time / reward ratio of posting to many free classifieds (the very top ad sites excluded - Craigslist etc.) is diminished.
Posted by: Online Promotion | July 30, 2008 at 09:24 PM
Many companies choose PPC for its flexibility and easiness in implementation. Online business gives you more freedom on what stock you are carrying or the way you are advertising it, and therefore continuous updating of your 4Ps is essential.
Posted by: netcallidus | August 12, 2008 at 05:27 AM
Forever Driveways UK offers block brick paving patio designs; rustic stone brick concrete patio designs, stone concrete patio designs, flagging and pattern imprinted concrete for concrete driveways or pressed concrete drives. We are professional driveway block paving restoration services in UK. For more information visit our site http://www.foreverdriveways.co.uk
Posted by: Block Paving Designs Pressed Concrete Driveways | September 26, 2008 at 12:00 AM
Dyson Doctor UK provides genuine Dyson spares, Dyson parts, Dyson vacuum cleaners parts, Dyson repair replacement vacuum cleaner parts with all types of spare parts and repairing parts Dyson.
http://www.dysondoctor.com
Posted by: Dyson Repair Replacement Parts | September 26, 2008 at 12:01 AM
Pregnancy books and videos UK offers best pregnancy birth guides, pregnancy gifts, pre conception products, pregnancy week by week calendars, best baby names books and infant toddler books pre conception products online at most discount rates. Get famous pregnancy books, pregnancy videos, cds, dvds and all products of pregnancy and children needs here.
http://www.pregnancybooksandvideos.co.uk
Posted by: Pregnancy Week By Week Calendars | September 26, 2008 at 12:02 AM