The Guardian is trialling a new community publishing platform that’s based on where you are — a sort of Wordpress meets Craigslist meets Everyblock. But can it make hyperlocal work? The company’s director of digital strategy tells us what it means. Read More »
Tech
AOL has said it remains committed to rolling out its Patch.com network of a thousand hyperlocal news outlets across the U.S., but reports about cost-cutting efforts raise the question of how long the troubled former web giant can maintain that commitment to its money-losing hyperlocal project. Read More »
Some media outlets are hoping that launching iPad subscriptions and paywalls will supplement the meager revenue they get from traditional online banner advertising, but AOL’s Patch and Hearst Magazines’ digital media are experimenting with some more innovative ways of monetizing their content as well. Read More »
AOL has made two huge bets — one the $315-million purchase of The Huffington Post and the other the expansion of its Patch.com hyperlocal news effort. Which is more likely to save AOL? With editorial turmoil and Patch’s high costs, the right answer may be neither. Read More »
AOL continues to pour money into its Patch.com “hyperlocal” news venture, and is also rolling out a Huffington Post-style aggregation effort called Local Voices aimed at pulling in local bloggers. But can any of this help AOL dig itself out of the financial hole it’s in? Read More »
AOL has agreed to acquire Outside.in, a hyper-local news aggregator, for substantially less than investors put into the company. Like many other experiments in hyper-local news, it failed to connect with the communities it was supposed to be serving, and that is the kiss of death.… Read More »
As the online media game gets increasingly saturated, a new land rush is building in the hyper-local market, according to Topix CEO Chris Tolles, who says AOL’s ambitious rollout of its Patch.com network of local news sites is just the beginning of the land grab. Read More »
AOL announced two locally focused platform acquisitions today: Patch, which is designed to bring news and other information to local communities, and Going, which helps people find stuff to do in their areas. In the press release announcing the acquisitions, new AOL CEO… Read More »
