An auction site offering free classified adverts may soon challenge hard
copy publications if figures are anything to go by.
Internet auction site stuff.com.au has
experienced a 48 per cent growth in new users each week in the three weeks
since the service was launched, with page impressions registering a 16 per
cent increase over the same period.
The introduction of these services, which offer improved, faster access
and extensive search facilities, has the potential to threaten the
newspaper and magazines, whose classifieds constitute a major source of
revenue.
Some publishers, such as John
Fairfax and News Corp offer free
online classifieds to those who have already paid for the printed version,
but neither have so far been prepared to give these away for free.
Stuff.com.au is the first major Australian site to offer the classified
service for free, with total number of registered users around 25,000, with
some 5,000 live auctions and classified adverts running at any one time on
the site.
Stuff.com.au has the support of Internet service provider OzEmail and free email service
provider Start. It has also teamed
with online radio station 96.1FM in a
mutual link arrangement.
96.1’s site is consistently within the top five music and radio monthly
destinations in Australia, according to site ratings companyWhere Did We Go?
Stuff.com.au has also moved ahead of fellow auction sites GoFish and Ubid in the Top 100‘s online ratings.