Comments on: The Guardian Cans Its ‘Unsustainable’ Local Websites

By: bart brouwers

bart brouwers — Mon, 02 May 2011 16:00:14 +0000

As always, bottom line is the question of profitability. I am convinced that any site or blog (be it hyperlocal or not) will have a very hard time being profitable if you do not build a business model before you start building the platform itself. Content may be great, participation may be super, the technical platform may be magnificent, it all comes down to nothing more than hobby if the business doesn’t take off. Money doesn’t fall from heaven, hyperlocal penny’s don’t roll your way automatically.
For those who are interested, I will be telling something more about the commercial chances of my own, nationwide hyperlocal network in the Netherlands, during a WAN-based conference in Paris at the end of june. You can already take a sneak preview at eindhoven.dichtbij.nl

By: Kevin Chuck

Kevin Chuck — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 08:31:30 +0000

What seems to have happened here is that the business model for the sites was the same as that for the Guardian itself and other local newspapers i.e. that public sector advertising would support it. With government ad spend being the first in the firing line and uncertainty as to whether online advertising meets Councils’ statutory obligations this was doomed to failure. From what I saw of the sites they didn’t seem to ever generate the kind of audience that would provide a reasonable revenue from commercial sources. If you are selling prime ad space at £10 a week you are never going to build a business. For all the criticism they have received the local newspaper sites seemed to have the edge in content and traffic and they seem to be failing to generate much from their digital operations.

This doesn’t mean hyperlocal in the UK is failing. The examples of successful commercialisation of hyperlocal thus far seem largely confined to London. They seem to be largely based on lifestyle and property advertising revenues which means that hyperlocal looks set for now to be dependent on the ‘local’ bit being an area of relatively high income.

By: Twm

Twm — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 19:21:04 +0000

I think if anyone should take heart from the qualitative success of the local site it is existing local newspaper websites. I’m specifically referring to the Guardian Cardiff and Wales Online’s Your Cardiff but suspect the same is true in other cities.
To me it seemed Hannah Waldram, who does an excellent job as the Cardiff reporter, has made the site a success as it understands the open nature of the internet, linking to blogs and other news sites.
Traditional local newspapers have been slow to embrace this and seem to want their sites to be no more interactive than their print products. They however have the advantage of an existing customer base that would probably appreciate a trusted source guiding them online.

By: Staci D. Kramer

Staci D. Kramer — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 17:54:34 +0000

To me, this is more of an unplugged experiment than a failed business. Would
be interesting to see it tried again.

By: Carl Morris

Carl Morris — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 17:35:35 +0000

Pity they didn’t try much on the local advertising side. As far as even a parallel experiment goes, a missed opportunity perhaps?