Skip Navigation

WashingtonPost.com Builds on Impressive Start

Image of Ken Doctor

Author: Ken Doctor, Affiliate Analyst

WashingtonPost.com has long been a gold standard of US newspaper websites. It has won numerous awards, and it ranks highest in local penetration of its market among newspaper websites, having fought the good fight with Yahoo!, Google, and others for “local” readers. Still, the Post struggles, like all newspaper companies. While it is growing significantly online, its ad revenue growth has slowed and its audience doesn’t spend as much time on the site as the Post would like or as its ad revenue needs require. WashingtonPost.com is an example of a relatively successful news site in the throes of continual change. In Outsell’s opinion, all news publishers can learn from its initiatives. This report takes an in-depth look at WashingtonPost.com and contains:

- Company highlights, including history, product and business models, and target markets;
- Details of the competitive landscape, including threats and opportunities;
- Analysis of what factors make WashingtonPost.com unique;
- Essential actions for News publishers that want to learn from WashingtonPost.com’s local and national initiatives.

Pub Date: April 2, 2008
Pages: 17
Format: PDF Application_pdf

Table of Contents

  • Why This Company?
    1. Methodology
  • Company Highlights
    1. History
    2. Product and Business Models
    3. What Is Working Best?
    4. Target Markets
  • What Makes WashingtonPost.com Unique?
  • Competitive Landscape
  • Opportunities and Threats
    1. Opportunities
    2. Threats
  • Essential Actions
  • Related Research
  • Appendix: Company at a Glance

    • Tables & Figures

  • Table 1. Market Share Movement in Online Revenues
  • Figure 1. LoudounExtra.com, One of 10 Mini-sites for Suburban Communities
  • Figure 2. Local Explorer Page for Alexandria, VA
  • Figure 3. Partnerships Offer Readers Contextually Relevant Stories
  • Figure 4. WashingtonPost.com at a Glance

    • Companies Mentioned

  • ABCNews.com
  • Aggregate Knowledge
  • AOL
  • The Associated Press
  • BBC
  • CitySearch
  • FirstPost
  • FoxNews.com
  • Google
  • Guardian Media
  • Inform Technologies
  • MSN
  • MSNBC
  • The New York Times
  • Reuters
  • Salon
  • Slate
  • Sphere
  • Technorati
  • USAToday.com
  • WashingtonExaminer.com
  • The Washington Post
  • WashingtonTimes.com
  • WSJ.com
  • Yahoo!
  • Yelp
  • Zagat

Companies Mentioned

  1. Aggregate Knowledge, Inc.
  2. AOL LLC
  3. British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)
  4. Google, Inc.
  5. Guardian Media Group plc
  6. Inform Technologies LLC
  7. MSN
  8. MSNBC.com
  9. New York Times Company
  10. Reuters
  11. Salon Media Group, Inc.
  12. Slate
  13. Sphere
  14. Technorati, Inc.
  15. The Associated Press
  16. USA Today
  17. Washington Post Company
  18. Yahoo! Inc.
  19. Yelp
  20. Zagat Survey, LLC