'Phoenix New Times' Takes on Craigslist

By: Jennifer Saba The Phoenix New Times isn't going to sit around and wait for some unknown factor to sweep away its classified business. Instead, the alternative weekly launched a new Web site, backpage.com, which looks and feels a lot like the popular community posting site craigslist.org.

The New Times launched the site back in March and it covers areas such as employment, rentals and romance. "We have a lot of free reign to try different things and ideas," said Scott Spear, senior vice president of New Times Media.

Most of the postings are free although the site does upsell. For instance, a person can run their ad in the paper for a week for an additional $15. Those with job postings pay $30 to run their ad in the paper.

The site matches the San Francisco-based craigslist in its simplicity and ease of navigation. "We are all aware of craigslist and I don't think it's the only place that the idea comes from," Spear said about the architecture of backpage.com.

As for the success of the site, Spear said only that so far things are going "OK" and that they are committed to giving it at least six months before executives make any definitive decisions. New Times is promoting the site very little. However, there are links to sister communities like Dallas and Cleveland. And it plans to launch in Oakland and San Francisco -- craigslist's backyard.

According to a recent article in the Online Journalism Review, it's estimated that craigslist (which does not accept banner ads and only charges for-profit companies for listings) brought in about $6.7 million last year in job ads. It covers 45 cities, though the strongest community is the Bay Area.

Craigslist might not be a huge threat now, but it has potential of cutting into newspaper classifieds. Jane Levine, publisher of the Chicago Reader, said she has her eyes on craigslist. "We don't see its effect yet," she said, before adding: "I'm don't know how to compete other than starting a free online site."