Patch: A Hobby Horse or a Derby Contender?
May 8, 2011
I found “Tim Armstrong’s Rambling Explanation Of What He’s Getting For Plowing $40 Million Into Patch” darned interesting. The magnetic pull of going local continues to exert a pull over former Googler Tim Armstrong. The write up features a long segment transcribed from an analyst’ phone call. I have read a few of these transcripts, and there are typographical errors. My hunch is that over time the revisionists will explain the comments. In that spirit, I want to highlight one segment and offer a couple of observations from the perspective of search and retrieval:
And job one is getting consumer traffic going. Job two is on the advertising front. And Patch is basically being monetized right now almost 100% by local zip code level advertisers or people.
The only hitch in the git along is that I don’t run across Patch in Harrod’s Creek. The local ad market is tough to reach, lacking in know how and resources, and generally interested in paper coupons to putting big mobile signs in front of the fish joint on the creek’s side. Local news, well. There’s not much. My hunch is that other services are serving the needs of the technically hip. Others in Harrod’s Creek are oblivious.
Searching for local information is tough, and I don’t see AOL becoming the go to way to find a pizza joint or a fried catfish sandwich.
Patch. Puzzling. More like a hobby horse than a derby contender. Just my opinion.
Stephen E Arnold, May 8, 2011
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