Hyperlocal platform climbs 6 spots on comScore list from just one year ago

NEW YORK, NY - January 10, 2012 - Patch, AOL's platform of over 850 hyperlocal news, information and engagement sites, is now the fourth largest regional/local property, more than tripling its UV traffic between December 2010 and December 2011, per the comScore data released this week. In addition, in December 2011, Patch showed a 5% traffic bump over November (9.9M UVs versus 9.5M UVs), bucking the trend of seasonal declines in comScore's local news and information category.

"Given that the average Patch site is just over a year old, we couldn't be happier with the traffic growth we've shown to date," commented Warren Webster, president of Patch Media. "We are incredibly proud of the role we play in our communities every day - and of the consistent positive feedback we receive from our users - so seeing this rise in traffic is very gratifying for our entire team."

The other properties in the category are Yelp (#1); CityGrid (#2), Yahoo! Local (#3), and CBS Local (#5). In December of 2010, Patch ranked #10 in the category.

Patch currently has 863 sites in 22 states plus Washington, D.C., with over a thousand professional journalists managing those sites and over 13,000 bloggers contributing content. In recent weeks, Patch launched its first three Patch Latino sites and its coverage of the 2012 election season across its primary-state Patches and beyond.