The Pew Internet & American Life Project has just published a report claiming that more than 26.3 million people visited one of the top 15 US classified sites in September. This is an 80 percent increase from the 14.6 million people in September of 2004, according to the report. The total Internet population grew by just 7 percent in that same period. Craigslist, which offers classifieds worldwide (including Australia), experienced the highest growth with around 8.8 million visitors in September – 156% higher than 3.4 million last year.
Given that newsagents rely on products which feed off classifieds the US trend needs to be understood and responded to.