On Oct. 8, 1995 @ 10:03AM 
Christian Darkin wrote:

"A question that occurs to me is why don't your classified advertisers just
post 
their message on one of the free newsgroups set up for the purpose?  In 
addition, there are many subject based newsgroups that welcome (restrained) 
classified advertising on relevant subjects.  Is there anything to be gained 
from using the WWW for classifieds?"
___________________________________

***I apologize in advance if any of you have heard or said this stuff before.

Actually Christian, I firmly believe there is a LOT to be gained by having
newspapers put Classified ads on the internet.

- -- Have you ever tried to find a job listing or an item for sale posted in a
newsgroup? You have to wade through a lot dross to get to the good stuff.
And it can really be frustrating if you want to find a job, buy a car or
find an apartment located somewhere near you. The internet is global in
view. Classified ads are inherently local in content and interest, with
exceptions of course.

Granted newsgroups can narrow their focus down to a very fine sliver of the
market, but whose to say the consumer will want to spend a lot of time
looking for the newsgroup in the first place? I certainly don't want to
spend a lot time searching through a list of all the available newsgroups
with their cryptic names just to find the one and only group that matches my
need?

- -- Newspapers have ad content -- that's a given. And newspaper classified
ads are generally very portable to a computer driven search model. We can
take ads out of our current newspaper production systems and send them into
external PC databases so that they can be viewed online, or heard over the
phone via audiotext.

In fact, if newspapers do the database and the online interface correctly,
finding a car, a job, a new house, can be a much more pleasant and efficient
experience than turning through page after page of classified listings
trying to read each and every ad to find the one or two that matches (or
comes somewhat close) to the attributes that you want. 

For example, if a programmer is seeking a new job, he must look at ads
listed in the newspaper under headings for Computer; Programmer; Engineer
Software; Software Engineer; Technology; and on and on. What if he or she is
only interested in programming jobs that require AIX skills and networking
experience? pay X amount of $? and be located within 20 driving miles of
home? Try looking for secretarial jobs. They must check under Secretary,
Admininstrative Assistant, Executive Secretary, General Office and so forth.

But, with a relational database structure, building logical ad groupings,
providing text string search capabilities, etc. a newspaper can make their
ads more accessible online than in the print model. 

For example, if I want a 1993 Ford Mustang that's Black on black, with less
than 35,000 miles and with AM/FM cassette, I must read every Mustang ad in
the paper. But with a computer I could go to my local newspaper's classified
web page, choose Cars For Sale, select Ford, Mustang, model year '93, color
black, interior black, 35,000 miles or less, AM/FM cassette -- and bingo!
I've got the exact 2, 5, 7 or whatever number of ads that match my specific
criteria. 

If I want to modify the search because not enough vehicles match or because
I got too many "hits,", its an easy process to add or eliminate criteria.
And, if the right car isn't there today, I could ask the newspaper's system
to remember my search criteria and send me an email when the right car shows
up in the database. What newsgroup does That!

Newsgroups don't offer real search tools. And matching buyers to sellers or
employers to job applicants is what classifieds are all about. If you give
the advertiser and consumer a better search "mousetrap" for establishing a
"link" between them -- then you will attract business.

- -- Newspapers have an edge -- for the moment at least -- of knowing how to
do classified ads really well. We know how to take and write good effective
ad copy, we know what ads have value in the market (at least in print), we
know how to sort and arrange the ads to make them accessible to the readers.
These are skills we have acquired and practiced for many years. We have
trained salespeople that can solicit new business and retain current
business. We have a lot of built-in infrastructure to support the
distribution, billing and maintenance of an advertising system. 

Most importantly, we have valuable brand identity in our local markets with
advertisers (both commercial and private party) as a preferred vehicle for
classified advertising. We have a brand identity with customers (commercial,
private party) as being a trustworthy, reliable, and in some content areas a
fairly comprehensive selection of ads.

These are attributes that NONE, and I mean NONE, of our current electronic
competitors (large or small) now have. Some have the content, some have the
database, some have a slick interface, some have a brand identity but not
the right one, (do you think of classified ads when you hear internetMCI?
NetCom? MSN?). A few may have a sales force and perhaps even a support
infrastructure. But none of them combines all of the things necessary to
make online classifieds a truly successful product and service.

Newspapers can do all that right now in print, and they can do it really
well onilne, too. If they want to.




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End of online-news-digest V1 #371
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From rballard@cnj.digex.net Thu Oct 12 16:06:08 1995
Status: O
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