A Fierce Debate Over Classified Aggregators

The new-media discussion list for the Newspaper Association of America is having a vigorous discussion about whether to allow Oodle.com — or other sites that aggregate classified ads from multiple sources — to “scrape” newspaper classifieds.

It’s an interesting question from a legal standpoint. (In a case involving eBay, a judge prohibited an auction aggregator from “spidering” eBay’s content.) But as a practical matter, Oodle’s “scraping” can be blocked through technological means.

The bigger question is strategic: work with Oodle to maximize distribution of classified ads, or try to hinder Oodle’s growth by not cooperating?

In the short term, many newspapers will choose the latter course, trying to protect their classified revenue streams. Over the long term, I think, listings will not generate much revenue by themselves. The online classified business will be won by the companies that do the best job of (1) maximizing distribution of their listings and (2) building supplemental services that add value to the listings.

And if aggregation is a winning approach, why not beat Oodle at its own game by aggregating multiple classifieds at the newspaper site? That’s why I think Tribune Co.’s Recycler.com strategy is so interesting.