The Relentess Switch to Digital Media

For some time now I have been watching the relentless drift or switch away from print media to digital media. Three areas which have proved to be the litmus test. Employment, Cars & Property.

The Age reported Seek.com.au expected earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation of $46 million to $47 million for 2005-06. This is up from previous guidance of $43 million and ahead of a $40 million prospectus forecast. Also reported Joint chief executive Andrew Bassat said that this year the internet had overtaken newspapers as the primary portal for job searching, further driving Seek's earnings growth. "We think there's certainly no doubt the migration will continue to move apace," he said.

Seek dominates the online job advertising market with a 46 per cent share of ads, followed by News Corp's CareerOne and Fairfax's MyCareer.

I have already commented that Property Rentals has all but disappeared from the Age's classified section. The Section is left to a few private advertisers and the odd Agency still pops an ad or two in (more often it is the independent agencies). The reasons are obvious. Price is one factor. The other is how much more you can say and describe the accomodation, photos, email contact etc. Also it is 24/7 anywhere.

The other category - Property Sales has also been sorely dented. The Section is certainly good for checking Open For Inspection times. By the way, why do agents persist with the mid-week OFI? It's a weekend thingy to do.

Here, at 247legal.com.au we are working on moving Vendor Statements off-line to an on-line model, industry wide that is. More on that shortly.