CityXpress Corp. announced it is providing the platform for one of North America's first continuous online auctions to be operated by a newspaper. The Mississauga News of Southern Ontario began its continuous auction program in June 2000 now has 5,000 registered auction bidders, 100 active auction advertisers and generates $400,000 (CDN) (approximately $320,000 USD) annually in auction revenue.

The Mississauga News developed the continuous auction to provide a promotional opportunity for small businesses that had little or no budget for print advertising. By providing products that sell in the auction, businesses earn credits, which they can use for future print advertising.

"Continuous auctions are an important step for newspapers in their push to reclaim their position in the local marketplace," said Phil Dubois, president and CEO of CityXpress. Recently CityXpress announced the launch of eClassifiedXpress, a product that gives newspapers the ability to offer ecommerce-enabled classified ads. A continuous business-to-consumer auction along with ecommerce-enabled classifieds allow a newspaper to offer its readers a complete online marketplace under its own brand, Dubois said.

http://www.cityxpress.com