Ch-ch-changes
A study by the Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project finds that nearly half (49%) of global online adults used online classified ads at some point — compared to 2005, when 22% of online adults had used them.
On any given day, one-tenth of online users (9%) visit an online classified site, up from 4% in '05.
Online classifieds are favored among 25- to 44-year-olds, over half of which frequent them; meanwhile, less than half of 18- to 24-year-olds and 45- to 54-year olds use them (49% and 48% respectively, writes the Wall Street Journal Blog).
In the age range 55- to 64 years old, fewer than 35% of users visited an online classified site; the figure falls to 26% for those over 65.
Users visit classified ads sites to seek everything from jobs, apartments, furniture, new pets, and used school textbooks, observes Pew. But transactions are not typically conducted from the sites themselves; in-person meetings are arranged, or money is sent by mail — setting online classifieds apart from auction/e-commerce sites like eBay and Amazon.
In the US, craigslist.org remains the most-used online classified ad site. Of the 53.8 million unique visitors that visited classified sites in March '09 (up 7% from February), it served 42.2 million.
craigslist now serves 50 different countries. Other popular classified sites include Gumtree, whose user base is primarily composed of United Kingdom inhabitants; and Kijiji, used worldwide and owned by eBay.
Pew says the April '09 findings illustrate the growing social importance of online classified sites to internet users — which have destroyed a major revenue source for newspapers.
Newspaper classified revenue plummeted to less than $10 billion in '08 from $17.3 billion in '05, writes Barrons, citing figures from the Newspaper Association of America. Real estate classifieds dropped to 52% from '06; and total web ads for newspapers in '08 racked up $3.1 billion.
This year Facebook tapped online classifieds site Oodle to power its proprietary marketplace, which enables Facebook users to broadcast sales to anyone within their spheres of influence. Oodle's objective is to build a perfect social model for online classifieds; it raised $5 million in support last February.
