Community Corner

Patch.com Witnesses Record Growth

May was the platform's most successful month to date, with nearly 12 million users and record-breaking revenue. And, we launched four new sites in suburban Chicago.

One of the reasons we love working at Patch is the reaction from our audience to the coverage and conversation across the local Patch network. We are so focused on the local scene that we don't often share the good news of Patch itself, still a toddler of a company that's growing by leaps and bounds.

Monday, we put out a press release about some of the growth we've seen:

Patch, AOL’s platform of local news, information and engagement sites, announced Monday, June 10, that May of 2012 was its most successful traffic and revenue period in the company’s history.  Patch served a record 11.7 million users in May (comScore), representing a 14% increase over April (10.3 million users) and an 11% increase over its previous traffic record (10.6 million users in August 2011). 

Find out what's happening in Orland Parkwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

In addition: 

  • This 14% month-over-month growth outpaced the comScore Local/Regional category as a whole, which grew only 3% over the same time period.  
  • Patch had a 12% increase in engagement (visits per unique visitor) from April to May. Within the top ten local-regional properties, this represents the highest increase in engagement month over month, and ranks Patch as the second highest in engagement among those properties.
  • With an average site age of just over 18 months, Patch is now the #5 local/regional property on the web, from #10 when it first entered the rankings in December 2010.
  • Patch’s total revenue was 14% higher than its previous record (November of 2011). This represents a 17% bump in revenue over April of 2012.  Patch has already booked for 2012 130% of its total 2011 revenue.

“We are extremely gratified to see these measures of the traction we have gained in our communities and in our business since our launch just over 3 years ago,” commented Jon Brod, CEO & Co-Founder of Patch. “We are laser-focused on continuing to serve our users and advertisers with high-quality content and impactful products, and building upon our success to date in innovative and engaging ways.”

Find out what's happening in Orland Parkwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The news of Patch’s May performance follows the recent announcement by AOL Chairman and CEO Tim Armstrong that Patch will generate between $40 million and $50 million in revenue this year. Patch also recently announced the launch of Patch Partners, a program to offer exclusive benefits to its local advertisers and resources for business owners at large.

In the Chicago area, we opened four new Patch sites on May 31: Joliet, Arlington Heights, Park Ridge and Vernon Hills. If you have friends or family in these towns, please share.


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