17 groups of regional press gathered together in France PA Presse to put in common, on a web site, all of their classified ads.
Do not follow the US example with local newspapers which lasted to go on the internet and paid it with market shares. But, rather look towards Great-Britain where 8 groups (700 newspapers) gathered together, and then could save their position. This is the observation of both opposed strategies which pushed 17 French local press groups to follow the British way: to combine in a unique structure to attack together the classified ads' market on the web.
Among these newspapers, there are Nice-Matin and La provence, which both belong to Hachette Filippachi Medias group. For southern newspapers, there are also Midi-Libre, Le Monde group has just take the control, Sud-Ouest and La Dépêche du Midi. Other newspapers belong to the alliance, like: L'Alsace, Le Bien Public, Le Dauphiné Libéré, Les Dernières Nouvelles d'Alsace, L'Est Républicain, La Montagne, La Nouvelle République du entre Ouest, Le Parisien, Le Progrès, Le Républicain Lorrain, Le Télégramme and La voix du Nord. Among the missing, there are Ouest-France, the most important French newspaper according to publishing figures, which did not want to join the movement.
The 17 groups (which represent 23 newspapers, 3.5 million copies, and 15 million daily readers) have created a company: France PA Presse (FPAP), whose president is Mathieu Puhl, president of Le Républicain Lorrain. Each shareholder owns between 5 and 7% of FPAP capital, which has to manage a web site where 200,000 classified ads are registered. The ads are classified according to four categories: employment, property business, vehicles, entertainment. The up-dating is permanent with 10,000 daily new ads. The service can be accessible from each newspaper's site.
The group supplies the web site but has a wide liberty of action in what concerns their commercial policy towards publishers and in ad publishing duration (30 days max.). Petites Annonces (classified ads) are vital for local daily press: they represent about 25 to 30% of its advertising turnover. But, they are threatened by big groups like Trader.com which from Sophia Antipolis develop internet platforms allowing them to reach PA markets throughout Europe.