Local media is so fragmented that its becoming increasingly important to aggregate classifieds from several sources. GoogleBase and Oodle go a long way in this regard – the latter having recently signed Facebook and MySpace as partners for its growing network. But other classified aggregators are coming up the horizon, too.
One site that recently launched is iList, a San Francisco-based company that has received $1.5 million from Draper Fisher Jurvetson. It offers users the ability make their ads portable to all their friends who are tuned into them on all the social sites (among them, Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, Friend Feed, Gmail, Yahoo! Mail, and WindowsLive). Users can set up alerts and RSS feeds.
The authenticity of users is especially pushed – something that is coming up more and more. Users won’t see the site’s authenticity star until they verify their identity via cell phone SMS. That’s an option that has previously been available on Facebook and eBay (but may freeze out some people who aren’t very familiar with txt messaging).
Another site that aggregates listings is Bamboo Ad Network, which is powered by Travidia, a large newspaper tech vendor. Bamboo works with auto dealers to put their listings across a wide network, including GoogleBase, Craigslist, Vast, Oodle, Local.com, Info.com and some others. It also provides dealers with sophisticated reporting, and promotes the dealership itself with SEO-friendly microsites, that includes lead collection.
“Our internet advertising programs were designed to give dealers the best leads with virtually no effort on their part – just pick the leads you want from your inbox! You get to choose,” notes collateral on the side. “Don’t worry about placing your ads in the right places and keeping track of the results. Bamboo will do it for you.”