Patch Breaks Traffic Records, Increasing Audience by 25 Percent in 2017

NEW YORK, Oct. 17, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Patch, the hyperlocal platform with a presence in over 1,200 communities announced today that it had hit record audience numbers, with 27.5 million unique visitors last month and a 25 percent increase in year-over-year traffic during the first three quarters of 2017. Patch has a presence in all 50 states, and has expanded in the third quarter into new markets including Birmingham, AL, Denver, CO, Miami, FL, Indianapolis, IN and Charlotte, NC.

"What's working for us is maintaining a commitment to our core mission of covering news at the neighborhood and community level, while also serving as a platform for local users to keep each other informed about what's happening in their neighborhoods," says Warren St. John, CEO of Patch.

Hale Global spun Patch out of AOL as an independent company in 2014. Verizon's Oath maintains a sizable minority position. As of September 2017, the company marked 15 straight months of profitability. Patch has 148 full-time employees, including 34 new reporters hired this year.

Patch's editorial model features an editor-in-chief overseeing 10 regional managers who direct teams of full-time experienced reporters on the ground. Patch's reporters include veterans of The Baltimore Sun, The Boston Globe, The Des Moines Register, The New York Times, and many of the nation's great newsrooms.

"Being able to provide in-depth coverage at the neighborhood level has been key to building Patch's reputation among our local users," says Todd Richissin, national editor of Patch. "People turn to Patch for stories ranging from the best restaurants in their area to school news to the latest in local politics."

The Patch audience has more than tripled in size since 2014, and Patch has expanded into more than 200 new markets. Patch's audience is two-thirds women and includes local influencers who are deeply involved in their communities.

Patch began 2017 with 20 million unique visitors per month, and has now increased to 27.5 million. "We're most proud of the fact that we have grown our audience and traffic without a single bought page view. We've built a loyal audience one user at a time by delivering highly relevant, local content," said St. John.

In the last year and a half, Patch's in-house development team has launched a new CMS, a new content sharing platform, a new iOS app and has integrated Patch into platforms like Apple News, the Bing app, and Amazon's voice platform, Alexa.

Patch generates revenue through a combination of direct advertising for national brands and local businesses, as well as programmatic sales. Small businesses and users can also target local customers with Patch's self-service advertising products that launched earlier this year.

As the hyperlocal platform gears up for the next two quarters and beyond, there will be significant platform innovations aimed at making it easier for users and publishers to leverage Patch's unique place in the digital landscape as the platform for local.

About Patch
Patch is a hyperlocal platform that currently serves 1,200 communities, towns and cities across the U.S. Known affectionately as "The Patch" by its users, Patch is the go-to destination for hyperlocal news and discussion about your community. If it's happening in your town, you'll read about it on the Patch.
www.patch.com

SOURCE Patch