From Deseret News archives:
Newspapers' cash cow being slaughtered
The want ads are wanting. In the old days, up to about five years ago, if people wanted to sell their cars, or boat, or washer and dryer, or advertise a job opening, or rent their house, or try to get in touch with the brunette they saw in the Firebird on State Street last Friday night, they went to one place: the newspaper classifieds, aka the community bulletin board.
But with the advent and increasing popularity of any number of Internet sites such as craigslist, cars.com, monster.com, MySpace and hundreds of others, the newspaper classifieds don't have the monopoly power they once enjoyed.
Throw in the fact that many of the Internet sites will advertise your stuff for free and it's not difficult to understand why classified revenue is dropping like prices of SUVs.
And just like that, a hundred years of gravy train runs out of track.
But then, just as the 1800s were about to turn into the 1900s, some unassuming back-room genius came up with the idea of allowing the public to place small ads for anything and everything they wanted. These were called want ads.
Recent comments
Someone needs to talk to the paper's marketing department. We paid...
Leetoo | Aug. 6, 2008 at 10:15 p.m.
T-Rex showes it best when it comes to the loss of Newspaper. I fear...
Confused | Aug. 6, 2008 at 8:42 p.m.
Just think, the people sought alternatives to the "Want Ads" because...
Joe | Aug. 6, 2008 at 1:58 p.m.
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