Newspapers battle back for employment ad revenue by building their online employment services

Classified Intelligence 2003 Employment Annual report on strategic moves

Newspaper companies are battling back from significant losses of employment advertising and are focusing substantial attention on building their online employment services to replace print advertising revenue that may never return, the ìClassified Intelligence 2003 Employment Annualî reported today.

The 129-page report, published by the leading interactive-classified advertising consulting firm, noted that Monster.com, a division of Monster Worldwide, Inc., (Nasdaq: MNST), is still by far the leader in online employment advertising. But two major newspaper-owned online employment companies, CareerBuilder and CareerSite, have taken significant steps during the last few months to close the gap.

ìIn the first few years of Internet employment advertising, most newspaper companies responded weakly or not at all,î said Peter M. Zollman, founding principal of Classified Intelligence. ìNow theyíre making the financial and business-model commitments to fight back and regain lost market share.

ìHowever, print employment advertising in newspapers will probably never recover to the levels it reached a few years ago. Major competitors such as Monster.com and Yahooís HotJobs, and a growing number of broadcast-linked employment classified sites, will continue to gain market share from newspapers.î

ìClassified Intelligence 2003 Employment Annual: Positioning for the Upturn,î is available at www.classifiedintelligence.com for $495. Itís the third annual employment report published by the Orlando-based consultancy.

It examines ìThe Big Threeî employment sites ñ Monster.com, CareerBuilder.com and HotJobs.com ñ smaller sites and companies including CareerSite, CareerCast and EmploymentGuide.com; niche sites like TrueCareers.com, operated by SLM Corp. (Sallie Mae) (NYSE: SLM), Dice.com, and MediaBistro.com, and an expanded review of the European and U.K. online employment advertising battle.

Two recent developments illustrate newspapers are stepping up their online employment efforts, Zollman said ñ the decision by newspaper-owned CareerBuilder.com to commit up to $265 million in marketing funds to capture the America Online and MSN portal relationships from Monster.com, and the recent purchase of CareerSite.com by PowerOne Media, a company owned by 12 private and publicly traded media companies.
The report outlines strategies for newspapers, broadcasters and dot-coms to use to strengthen their employment advertising focus as hiring rebounds.



ìOnline revenue growth has been a bright spot for newspapers in the weak economy, with consistent double-digit percentage gains ñ albeit from a very small base,î Zollman said. ìWith hiring set for a rebound in the U.S. and many other countries, that growth is likely to take off ñ but dot-coms and broadcasters will also benefit significantly from the turnaround.î
Copies of the report are available to reporters and media analysts at no charge through an e-mail to info@classifiedintelligence.com .


Classified Intelligence, L.L.C., www.classifiedintelligence.com, is a consulting group that focuses on interactive classified advertising ñ employment, real estate, automotive, merchandise/auctions and personals. Founded in 1998, it publishes Classified Intelligence Report, a twice-monthly analystsí report about interactive classifieds; Classified Intelligence Case Studies, a free monthly newsletter; the annual employment report, and other white papers and special reports about interactive classifieds. It provides strategic consulting, proprietary and published research, sales training and executive workshops to clients globally, including the Washington Post Co., Tribune Co., CareerBuilder and CareerCast (U.S.); Daily Mail and General Trust and Fish4 Trading Ltd., (U.K.); Finn.no (Norway); Ifra, the international newspaper technology association, and many others. It is affiliated with the Advanced Interactive Media Group, L.L.C., www.aimgroup.com .