Hyper-Local Backfence Closes Down

Search Engine Land reports Backfence is closing down;

Quote from Backfence (Reston community site),

"Backfence Says Goodbye to Reston
We are sorry to announce that Backfence (insert city)will be ceasing operations within the next few days. We have been honored to have been members of this vibrant local community over the past several months. Thank you for your interest and participation in Backfence. Hopefully, we'll see you around the neighborhood.
Posted by Backfence; updated 07/05.."

Shame really, perhaps they are a few years ahead of their time or maybe expanded too quickly?
The failing underscores how hard it is to break in to this genre. It seems more and more social networks giants like Facebook, Bebo and MySpace will form and define local community in cyberspace. Given that I do believe spots like super hyper-local Fresno Famous will always find a corner in the room to hang a hat on.

"Panlocal" "Hyperlocal" Pegasus Defines It for Us

Greg Sterling's Screenwerks pointed me to Pegasus News Mike Orren's piece on Online Journalism Review. Mike hits it on the head here:

"Local retailers, many of whom may not even have websites, are a huge class of business that is not flocking to pay-per-click ad services. And while that presents a huge opportunity, it means the hard work of picking up phones, knocking on doors and feet on the street – just like with traditional local media. However, once you get them on board, local advertisers are amazed at the precision, flexibility and business intelligence provided by online advertising. Restaurants used to paying a flat fee for ad space in a weekly are shocked that their bill is lower if you deliver fewer pageviews. Stores are aghast that you can change their sale ads every day..."

Pegasus News