As it has done in most areas of our lives, the Web is having an impact on the way we look for everything from rental apartments and used couches to snowshoes and those weird hairless cats.
As a population, growing numbers of us are forsaking print information for online sources when it comes to classified ads. A new survey from research firm Outsell finds that 48% of Americans say they used eBay, Craigslist or similar online ad sites to buy or sell something over the past year. By contrast, only 10% said they bought a print classified ad to sell something in that time.
So newspapers are increasingly interested in moving their commerce sections, including their classified ads, onto the Internet. They may have gotten a little extra motivation recently from indications that Google and Microsoft are tuning up their own online classified offerings: Microsoft with the beta launch of its Windows Live Expo service, and Google Base with its test of an automated online payment system.
Classified ads, particularly for jobs and real estate, are seen as one arena where local news sources still enjoy an edge. Outsell found that 77% of those polled turned to newspapers for jobs, compared to 31% who went to Google, Yahoo!, MSN or AOL and 26% to other online sites; and 82% of respondents said they looked to print for real estate news and listings, compared to 22% to the four biggest portals and 19% to other Web sources.
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