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Patch.com is an American local news and information platform, primarily owned by Hale Global. As of January 2022, Patch's more than 100 journalists operated some 1,259
hyperlocal Hyperlocal is information oriented around a well-defined community with its primary focus directed toward the concerns of the population in that community. The term can be used as a noun in isolation or as a modifier of some other term (e.g. new ...
news websites, which also have an information component, in 50
U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...
s and Washington, D.C. Patch is operated by Patch Media Corporation. Patch is first, a local news website. Patch.com sites contain news and human interest stories reported locally. It does not offer international news. 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.


History

Patch was founded by then-president of
Google Google LLC () is an American multinational technology company focusing on search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, artificial intelligence, and consumer electronics. ...
Americas operations
Tim Armstrong Timothy Ross Armstrong (born November 25, 1965) is an American musician, singer, songwriter and producer. Known for his distinctive voice, he is the singer/guitarist for the punk rock band Rancid and hip hop/punk rock supergroup Transplants. ...
, Warren Webster and Jon Brod in 2007 after Armstrong said he found a dearth of online information on his home-neighborhood of
Riverside, Connecticut Riverside is a neighborhood/section in the town of Greenwich in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 8,416. The town of Greenwich is one political and taxing body, but consists of several ...
. 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. The acquisition occurred on June 11, 2009. 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 Dial-up Internet access is a form of Internet access that uses the facilities of the public switched telephone network (PSTN) to establish a connection to an Internet service provider (ISP) by dialing a telephone number on a conventional telep ...
business. AOL, which split from
Time Warner Warner Media, LLC ( traded as WarnerMedia) was an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate. It was headquartered at the 30 Hudson Yards complex in New York City, United States. It was originally established in 1972 by ...
in late 2009, announced in 2010 it would be investing $50 million or more into the startup of the Patch.com network. As part of the acquisition Brod became President of AOL Ventures, Local & Mapping, and Warren Webster became president of Patch. 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. The company grew from 46 markets to over 400 in 2010. ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' wrote in 2011, "AOL's Patch: Finding Progress Where Others Have Failed." In 2011, Patch acquired hyperlocal news aggregator Outside.in from investors including
Union Square Ventures Union Square Ventures (USV) is an American venture capital firm based in New York City. The firm has backed more than 130 startups, including Twitter, Etsy, Stripe, Coinbase, Zynga, Tumblr, Stack Overflow, Meetup, Kickstarter, MongoDB, Flur ...
and others, integrating the technology into the Patch platform. In 2013, Patch was spun out of AOL as a joint venture with Hale Global. In January 2014, the new owners announced layoffs of 400 journalists and other employees. In February 2016, ''
The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...
'' reported that Patch had 23 million users, was profitable and expanding into new territories. 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. Alison Bernstein was named CEO in September 2019, and later transitioned to the company's board. Rob Cain, formerly of
Omron Adept Omron Adept Technology, Inc. is a multinational corporation with headquarters in Pleasanton, California (San Francisco Bay Area). The company focus on industrial automation and robotics, including software and vision guidance. Adept has offices t ...
, became Patch's CEO in November 2020. 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.


References


External links


Official website
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