DMGT launches hyper-local community websites

This week AND rolled out 23 websites of the "Local People Network", including Bideford People, Falmouth People and Clifton People, and plans to bring the total to 50 sites within a month.

The sites cover areas with between 10,000 and 50,000 inhabitants and are designed to encourage people to interact and report on their area.

AND will offer local businesses targeted online display ads on the sites, including sponsorship, and allow businesses to pay to develop their own listings in the sites' business directories.

Roland Bryan, strategy director at AND, said the target advertisers are "genuinely local businesses" who "like the idea of advertising online" but still don't have an "understanding or trust of pay per click or Google".

He said AND is not looking to attract national advertising from "day one". Bryan said: "As the sites get critical mass the focus will be on local advertisers to get space on the site and access to the local audience. We don't see the value being in national display ads on the run of the network."

Users can generate a profile on the site and can link to other users, join interest groups, create discussion groups and comment on other people's posts. The sites also link to DMGT's digital classified businesses Jobsite, Motors.co.uk and Findaproperty.com.

Each site will have a community publisher whose primary role will be to go out into the community to promote the site to local people and who will also oversee the site and contribute some content. Some community publishers will be recruited for the role and others will be current employees of Northcliffe.

AND will market the sites through targeted digital ads and by using the DMGT portfolio as well as in person in the locality.