Have you ever wondered just how bad it’s gotten for the newspaper industry and their associated classified ad revenue over the past 10 years? With the onslaught of the web and classified sites like Craigslist, the easy money of classified listings flowing into newspaper’s pockets has all but disappeared. Below is a chart showing classified ad revenue over the last 10 years. As you can see, revenue has declined over 92%, down from $8.7 billion in 2000 to a paltry $723 million last year. And I don’t believe the classified ad industry has hit bottom yet – we have yet to see what social networks can bring to the world of online classifieds. Once that’s figured out, it will be the nail in the print classified coffin – IMHO!
Here’s the chart from BusinessInsider.com showing the rapid decline in newspaper’s classified ad revenue: