Patch Media

{{Infobox website

| name = Patch Media

| logo = Patch (website) logo.png

| location_city = New York City

| location_country =

| area_served = United States

| CEO = Charles Hale

| services = Online news and opinion

| owner = Hale Global

| url = {{URL|patch.com}}

| website_type = News

| launch_date = {{start date and age|2007|12}}

| current_status = Active

}}

Patch Media operates Patch.com, an American local news and information platform, based in Manhattan. It is primarily owned by Hale Global.{{cite news |title=AOL Finds a Partner to Run Its Troubled Patch Division |last=Kaufman |first=Leslie |date=January 15, 2014 |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/16/business/media/aol-finds-a-partner-to-run-its-troubled-patch-division.html |access-date= |url-access=subscription |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140116073450/https://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/16/business/media/aol-finds-a-partner-to-run-its-troubled-patch-division.html |archive-date=2014-01-16 |url-status=live}} Patch is operated by Planck, LLC, doing business as Patch Media.{{cite web |title=Patch Terms of Use |date=2022-07-14 |publisher=Patch Media |url=https://patch.com/terms |access-date=2024-05-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240521214210/https://patch.com/terms |archive-date=2024-05-21 |url-status=live}}

{{As of|2024|May}}, the Patch.com hyperlocal websites provide local news and human interest stories to 1,900 communities, dispersed across all 50 U.S. states, Washington, D.C. and the United States Virgin Islands.{{Cite web |title=All Patch Locations by State |publisher=Patch Media |url=https://patch.com/map |access-date=2024-05-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240521214126/https://patch.com/map |archive-date=2024-05-21 |url-status=live}} The platform is based on a lead reporter in each community, does not offer international news, but does have an "Across America" site, with national stories.{{cite magazine |title=AOL's plan to own your neighborhood |first=Quentin |last=Hardy |magazine=Forbes |date=17 August 2010 |url=https://www.forbes.com/2010/08/16/internet-patch-news-technology-aol.html?sh=5984fc8174a4 |access-date=17 August 2010}}

Patch also provides a platform for users to post questions, news tips and columns germane to their towns. Each site also contains a mixture of local and national advertising. The latter includes a self-serve ad platform allowing users to communicate directly with targeted audiences.{{Cite web|last=Moses|first=Lucia|date=2018-10-16|title=How profitable Patch is automating ad buying|url=https://digiday.com/media/profitable-patch-automating-ad-buying/|access-date=2019-06-13|website=Digiday|language=en-US}}{{Cite web|date=2018-12-26|title=How 'hyperlocal' news app Patch is trying to regain trust in media|url=https://www.dailydot.com/debug/patch-app-local-news/|access-date=2019-06-13|website=The Daily Dot|language=en}}

History

Patch was founded by then-president of Google Americas operations Tim Armstrong, Warren Webster and Jon Brod in 2007 after Armstrong said he found a dearth of online information on his home-neighborhood of Riverside, Connecticut.{{cite news|url= https://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/13/technology/start-ups/13hyperlocal.html

|work= The New York Times|date= April 12, 2009}} AOL acquired the company in 2009 shortly after Armstrong became AOL's CEO. Armstrong told AOL staffers that he recused himself from negotiations to acquire the company and did not directly profit from his seed investment.{{cite news |title=AOL Buys Local Startups Going And Patch (And CEO Tim Armstrong Brings an Investment In-House) |first=Erick |last=Schonfeld |date=2009-06-11 |work=TechCrunch |url=https://techcrunch.com/2009/06/11/aol-buys-local-startups-going-and-patch-and-ceo-tim-armstrong-brings-an-investment-in-house/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150804095539/http://techcrunch.com/2009/06/11/aol-buys-local-startups-going-and-patch-and-ceo-tim-armstrong-brings-an-investment-in-house/ |archive-date=2015-08-04 |url-status=live}}

The acquisition occurred on June 11, 2009.{{cite web|url= http://corp.aol.com/press-releases/2009/06/aol-acquires-two-local-services-patch-and-going|title= AOL Acquires Two Local Services, Patch and Going|first= Chris |last= Savarese|publisher=AOL.com|date= June 11, 2009

|access-date= February 11, 2010}}{{cite web|last=McCarthy|first=Caroline|date=June 11, 2009|title=AOL thinks local, acquires Patch and Going|url=http://news.cnet.com/8301-13577_3-10262680-36.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090804202844/http://news.cnet.com/8301-13577_3-10262680-36.html|archive-date=August 4, 2009|access-date=February 11, 2010|publisher=CNET.com}} AOL paid an estimated $7 million in cash for the news platform as part of its effort to reinvent itself as a content provider beyond its legacy dial-up Internet business. AOL, which split from Time Warner in late 2009, announced in 2010 it would be investing $50 million or more into the startup of the Patch.com network.{{cite news|title= AOL's Patch plans 500 local sites by end of 2010 |agency= Associated Press |date= August 16, 2010}} As part of the acquisition Brod became President of AOL Ventures, Local & Mapping, and Warren Webster became president of Patch.{{cite web|url=http://corp.aol.com/2010/05/12/jon-brod3/ |title=Jon Brod |publisher=AOL.com |date=May 12, 2010 |access-date=February 11, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100601090644/http://corp.aol.com/2010/05/12/jon-brod3/ |archive-date=June 1, 2010 }}

Following the acquisition, Patch began a period of rapid expansion, becoming one of the largest employers of professional journalists in the US at the time.{{Cite web|last=Tartakoff|first=Joseph|date=2010-08-17|title=AOL's Patch aims to quintuple in size by year-end|url=http://www.theguardian.com/media/pda/2010/aug/17/aol-patch-local-journalism|access-date=2022-01-18|website=the Guardian|language=en}} The company grew from 46 markets to over 400 in 2010, and by early 2011 The New York Times reported that it was "finding progress where others have failed", and had grown to 800 communities.{{Cite news |title=AOL Bets on Hyperlocal News, Finding Progress Where Many Have Failed |first=Verne G. |last=Kopytoff |date=2011-01-16 |work=The New York Times |department=Media & Advertising |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/17/business/media/17local.html |access-date=2022-01-18 |url-access=subscription |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110117080849/https://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/17/business/media/17local.html |archive-date=2011-01-17 |url-status=live}} In 2011, Patch acquired hyperlocal news aggregator Outside.in from investors including Union Square Ventures and others, integrating the technology into the Patch platform.{{Cite news |title=Confirmed: AOL's Patch Buys Hyperlocal News Site Outside.In |first=Leena |last=Rao |date=2011-03-04 |work=TechCrunch |url=https://techcrunch.com/2011/03/04/aol-outside-in/ |access-date=2024-05-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210929033119/https://techcrunch.com/2011/03/04/aol-outside-in/ |archive-date=2021-09-29 |url-status=live}}

In 2013, Patch was spun out of AOL as a joint venture with Hale Global.{{Cite web|date=January 15, 2014|title=AOL Shifts Patch to Joint Venture with Hale Global|url=https://deadline.com/2014/01/aol-shifts-patch-local-news-service-to-joint-venture-with-hale-global-664928/|website=Deadline}} In January 2014, the new owners announced layoffs of 400 journalists and other employees.{{Cite web|date=January 29, 2014|title=Patch Hit With Sweeping Layoffs As New Owner Hale Global Restructures|url=https://techcrunch.com/2014/01/29/patch-hit-with-sweeping-layoffs-as-new-owner-hale-global-restructures/|website=TechCrunch}}

In February 2016, The Wall Street Journal reported that Patch had 23 million users, was profitable, and was expanding into new territories.{{cite news |title=Patch Rebounds After Split From AOL |first=Jack |last=Marshall |work=The Wall Street Journal |date=2016-02-02 |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/patch-rebounds-after-split-from-aol-1454445340 |access-date=2018-01-18 |url-access=subscription |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160202223638/https://www.wsj.com/articles/patch-rebounds-after-split-from-aol-1454445340 |archive-date=2016-02-02 |url-status=live}} In 2018, Patch completed its third profitable year in a row, attracting an average of 23.5 million unique visitors monthly. Patch employs nearly 150 people, including 110 full-time reporters, many from the nation's leading newsrooms.{{Cite web|url=https://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/334105/patch-celebrates-profitability-explores-ai.html|title='Patch' Celebrates Profitability, Explores AI|website=www.mediapost.com|language=en|access-date=2019-06-13}}

Alison Bernstein was named CEO in September 2019,{{Cite web|url=https://patch.com/us/across-america/update-patch|title=An Update From Patch|date=2019-09-16|website=Across America, US Patch|language=en|access-date=2019-10-29}} and later transitioned to the company's board. Rob Cain, formerly of Omron Adept, became Patch's CEO in November 2020.{{cite web |title=About Patch |url=https://patch.com/about |website=Patch |access-date=12 January 2021 |language=en}} Charles Hale informed Recode in 2019 that his network of 1,200-plus hyperlocal news sites was generating more than $20 million in annual ad revenue, without a paywall.{{Cite web|last=Kafka|first=Peter|date=2019-02-11|title=The alternative to your dying local paper is written by one person, a robot, and you|url=https://www.vox.com/2019/2/11/18206360/patch-local-news-profitable-revenue-advertising-hale|access-date=2019-06-26|website=Vox}}

References

External links

[http://www.patch.com/ Official website]
{{cite encyclopedia | url = http://www.niemanlab.org/encyclo/patch/ |publisher=Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University | title = Patch |encyclopedia=Encyclo: an Encyclopedia of the Future of News }}

Category:Internet properties established in 2007

Category:Local mass media in the United States

Category:AOL

Category:Mass media in California

Category:Mass media in Connecticut

Category:Mass media in Washington, D.C.

Category:Mass media in Florida

Category:Mass media in Georgia (U.S. state)

Category:Mass media in Illinois

Category:Mass media in Iowa

Category:Mass media in Maine

Category:Mass media in Maryland