Online Classified Ads, Another View

“Online Classifieds Have Grown Up,” writes Brad Waller, VP, business and affiliate development of ePage, in response to my column that examines why more classified ad sites haven’t incorporated more interactive features.

The online classified site, he says, has been around since 1994 and that consumers are the ones who’ve resisted change.

“We offered audio many years ago and it never took off. We have offered video for a few years and very few users have chosen to upload any,” he writes.

So why aren’t more people using audio and video in classified ads?

“Audio was and still is too hard for most people. Video is a harder question. Everyone seems to have video capability on the cell phone, most digital cameras have video, and now there is the relatively cheap Flip (and other) video cameras. I really did expect video to take off because the barrier to entry is so low. My best guess on the lack of video is the demographics of the average classifieds user. Classifieds is not the realm of the 18-34 who grew up with technology. Sure, they are users, but there are a lot of older users who feel comfortable with classifieds. They are simple and easy to understand.”