Who Needs Now's New Classifieds?

I've been meaning to post about this for a few weeks, ever since Now Magazine started hyping their new classified section.

It's no secret that, historically, classified sections represent a good chunk of a newspaper's revenue. It's also been widely reported that the internet - and specifically sites like eBay, Craigslist and Kijiji are taking a big bite out of this revenue and will continue to do so in the forseable future.

That said, it's hard to imagine that anyone is going to pay for Now's new online classifieds when a site like Craigslist is free and has more web traffic. At best, you'd think Now's online offering would be a value add for their advertisers who are ponying up to be in print.

And perhaps it is?

But what I find more interesting is seeing who's still advertising in Now's print classifieds. The Keg. Aveda. ESH Language Centre. The Bartending School of Ontario. And my personal fave? An ad from Frontier College promising "Hard Work, Low Pay and the Experience of a Lifetime".