Classifieds on the Go – Mobile Classifieds

April 21, 2007

MOBILE CLASSIFIEDS | THE PALM BEACH POST, WEST PALM BEACH, FLA.

BY GINA ROLLINS

Dan Shorter has spent the last three years finding ways to make palmbeachpost.com’s classifieds easier to use.

That search has led him to his latest project, Classifieds on the Go, a technology that makes all classified ads available on cell phones and personal digital assistants that use Sprint, Verizon, Cingular, T-Mobile and Alltel networks. Users can look for a specific classified ad or do keyword searches of all classifieds and display ads, currently about 10,000 items.

The venture, which began last November, is part of a broader media strategy to reposition the Post in a rapidly evolving market.

“We have to capture our rightful share of the mobile audience or we’ll be left out in the cold,” says Shorter, general manager of palmbeachpost.com, adding he hopes Classifieds on the Go will attract people not currently

reading the newspaper. “We’re using mobile technology to create new value so we won’t be just a print company with a Web site, but really a multimedia business.”

This focus on mobile technology follows investments in the Post’s online portal for enhanced ad placement, search and display features, as well as a network of ATM-like kiosks in malls and shopping centers (“Convenient Classifieds,“ April 2006, p. 58). Shorter and colleagues Gina Wilcox, online development director; Robb Olsen, vice president of advertising; and Michelle Licudine, Internet marketing manager, have worked closely on all these ventures, which earned the paper recognition as a Best Practices Award winner in 2004, 2005 and 2006. Classifieds to Go also won a 2007 Digital Edge Award for Best Advertising Program in the 75,000 to 250,000 circulation category.

The Post’s pursuit of cutting-edge technology caught the eye of Chuck Peters, president and chief executive officer of The Gazette Co. in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and chairman of NAA’s Newspaper Systems Committee, which helped judge the I.O. Awards. “They’re moving along the right path, are very innovative, and [moving] in the direction we all should be going,” he says.

Mobile users access Classifieds to Go by entering an identification number for a specific ad or a phrase, such as “three-bedroom house,” then text-messaging it to the Post’s mobile short code. Searchers will then receive a text message of up to 160 characters with information about their request.

Those with Web-enabled cell phones have the option of linking to Web sites and images. When a search returns too many results, the user is asked to refine it. A house search, for instance, could be narrowed with an additional term, such as “fireplace.”

The Post partnered with CellSigns (www.cellsigns.com), Shorter says, and paid the company “a few tens of thousands” of dollars to develop the technology. The product is on track to generate $1 million in revenue during its first year, Shorter adds. Advertisers pay a small premium for mobile access.

Traffic for the service is “thin” at present, but Shorter believes it will only blossom. “There’s as much, if not more, potential audience and revenue as on the Internet,” he says.

CELLSIGNS CONTACT

Visit CellSigns or call 877-747-9274.