Newspapers are facing increasing competition from independent local websites that focus on travel and entertainment in various cities, according to a Borrell Associates study, "Independent City Sites Gain Steam: A New Threat to Old Media," reports MediaPost. The local sites, many of which use URLs that include the city's name (e.g., Toledo.com), are "elbowing in on territory that traditional local media properties have been trying to stake out for the past decade," according to the report.
The sites tend to focus on entertainment, nightlife and travel - but not local news. They get traffic even without much marketing, because some people merely type proper names into the URL field to surf the web.
However, independent sites account for less than 1 percent of local online advertising, whereas media-run sites account for 3-18 percent, according to the report. Still, Borrell says annual revenues at these local sites have "moved into the six-figure range."
