AOL plans to close, sell or find partners for nearly a third of its Patch.com local-news sites, the company’s chief executive said Wednesday.
Of the roughly 900 hyperlocal editions nationwide, nearly 300 are not successful and not likely to attract enough traffic or revenue, Tim Armstrong said in AOL’s second-quarter earnings call with analysts.
Will the Patch sites sprinked throughout Tampa Bay — including the one which covers St. Pete — still be around after Friday?
According to a tipster on JimRomenesko.com, layoff details will be announced Friday and they’ll include “elimination of corporate overlays.” As many as five hundred employees will be let go.
I’m not sure what that means for the bustling St. Pete site. Then again, Patch has not been the same since it implemented a new content management system. Many bloggers have stopped using the site because of the “upgrade” problems. Also, readers have complained about the lack of news and ability to find relevant material.
AOL will review its plans for Patch with the company’s board Thursday, Armstrong said. “I’m not going to go into tons of detail, because we don’t have an approved proposal yet around it,” he said. However, he said some Patch editions could be merged, especially those where residents of one town use the downtown commercial center in another town.
“The vision for Patch remains simple,” Armstrong told analysts. “Put a platform in town that allows offline things to be done online.” The sites aim to provide high-quality local information, allow people to upload and share information, and provide a forum for online advertising and commerce, Armstrong said.
