Phoenix, AZ; June 26, 2009 — Backpage.com releases numbers that demonstrate a significant increase in online small business classified postings over the last few months. Postings in service and product categories have increased by 31 percent in the last six months. The largest increases in postings were related to therapeutic massage and health and wellness services; doubling in the last month.

“Businesses realize that the yellow pages are a thing of the past,” said Carl Ferrer, founder of Backpage.com. “Consumers want to make smart and quick decisions and they look to the Internet to do so. Backpage.com is an incredible tool for businesses to reach potential clients.”

Traditional forms of advertising such as newspaper classifieds and the yellow pages are becoming increasingly irrelevant to small businesses in their marketing efforts. These forms of marketing and advertising often require many levels of approval and lag time before an advertisement runs. Advertisements on Backpage.com post live on the site with just a few simple steps.

“Service providers use Backpage.com because their ads are immediately posted online with no delay,” said Ferrer. “The advertisements are also superior to those in traditional media or on other classifieds sites because they can include pictures, unlimited descriptions of products and links to outside websites,” said Ferrer.

Backpage.com has 80 categories which make it easy for business owners to accurately market and advertise their offerings. The process and time spent posting ads is efficient and effective on Backpage.com because of enhanced user features such as using one template to post in multiple cities and auto reposting. Users advertising on the site are responsible for complying with all state and local regulations.

To learn more about Backpage.com or to post an online classified ad visit www.backpage.com.

Backpage.com is a popular online classifieds website. Founded in March 2004, Backpage is owned and operated by the Village Voice Media, a publisher of alternative newsweeklies in many major U.S. cities. Backpage.com is in over 250 cities in the United States, Mexico and Canada. The website has over two million postings and half a billion page views per month and ranks second among free online classified websites according to Alexa and Comscore Media Metrix.