Great White North (Ad)Star and Classifieds Craziness

Online classifieds and transaction software provider AdStar has added Canadian newspaper publisher Pacific Newspaper Group to its client roster. The publisher of The Vancouver Sun and The Province will use AdStar’s classified ad technology to facilitate creation, scheduling and payment for online and print classifieds.

Every time a deal in this space occurs, and it’s often, I try to take a moment to get my bearings. What classifieds aggregator is working with what publishers now? Who’s combining Yellow Pages listings with classifieds? Which newspaper publishers are working with Yahoo? Who’s participating in Google’s fledgling print ad system?

It’s all a blur, and I expect it will take some time before it all settles down. However, if Google’s and Yahoo’s relationships with paper publishers pan out, I suspect it will make more sense for companies like Pacific Newspaper Group to align with those big players, who have the wherewithal to offer SEO and distribution for their news content in exchange for access to their online and print classifieds.

But, there are several considerations to be made beyond the obvious. In the meantime, I may have to create some kind of elaborate chart to keep up with all the classifieds distribution, aggregation and deal-making.