‘Hyper-Local’ Site Backfence Shutting Down

Backfence emerged about the same time, a couple of years ago, as InsiderPages, Judy’s Book and Yelp. Now it appears to be closing its doors. The seemingly imminent closure of Backfence raises questions about the economics and viability of so-called “hyper-local” sites. InsiderPages, for its part, was recently sold to IAC/Citysearch and Judy’s Book has […]

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Backfence emerged about the same time, a couple of years ago, as InsiderPages, Judy’s Book and Yelp. Now it appears to be closing its doors. The seemingly imminent closure of Backfence raises questions about the economics and viability of so-called “hyper-local” sites. InsiderPages, for its part, was recently sold to IAC/Citysearch and Judy’s Book has changed its model to become an affiliate shopping and local deals site. Yelp, however, continues to forge ahead having hit critical mass in selected markets.


Yet the local segment remains very dynamic with a range of recent entrants and competitors coming into the market: Smalltown, Citysquares, LocalGuides, Outside.in, Yellowbot, MojoPages, Fatdoor, American Town Network, among a host of familiar and unfamiliar others.

I have a much longer post about Backfence and the sales challenges of the local market on my personal blog Screenwerk.


Opinions expressed in this article are those of the guest author and not necessarily Search Engine Land. Staff authors are listed here.


About the author

Greg Sterling
Contributor
Greg Sterling is a Contributing Editor to Search Engine Land, a member of the programming team for SMX events and the VP, Market Insights at Uberall.

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