PALO ALTO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Topix, the largest local forum site in the United States, is reporting a 40 percent year over year traffic increase (comScore MMX Multi-Platform Beta: December 2011 vs. December 2012) with further growth expected in the first half of 2013. The site, which had a record 12.4 million unique visitors in January 2013, attributes the significant increase to the growing popularity of Politix (politix.topix.com), its bipartisan political news and discussion site, as well as its proven engagement engine that encourages participation through quizzes, polls and debates.
“We are fortunate to have one of the web’s most engaged audiences,” said Chris Tolles, CEO of Topix. “Whether they are debating the latest gun control legislation or exchanging information about local road repairs, citizens in over twenty thousand cities and towns find community and critical information on our site and as a result keep coming back. What’s particularly unique about our recent growth is that we were able to retain the new visitors we secured during election season. Clearly, they are getting value from the site year round.”
To support its growth, Topix continues to promote from within and make strategic hires. Mike Sawka, a Topix veteran of over seven years and the former senior director of engineering, has been promoted to Vice President of Engineering, where he will oversee product development and enhancements.
Additionally, Schuyler Hudak was recently recruited into the company as Director of Business Development after working with Topix as a consultant. Hudak, whose experience spans politics, community partnerships and startups, has been advising several emerging Bay Area companies including recently-acquired Votizen. She previously held senior positions with the Jerry Brown for Governor 2010 campaign and the San Francisco Mayoral race. In her new role, Hudak will seek out innovative strategic partnerships for Topix, as well as evaluate potential acquisitions.
"While local news sites across the country struggle to efficiently monetize and stay afloat, we are thriving,” continued Tolles. “This is a direct result of our successfully piecing together the engagement puzzle through a combination of proprietary technology, localization and efficient content creation.”
Topix is also seeing significant mobile growth, with over half its current traffic coming from mobile devices. Mobile and online visitors spend an average of 133 million minutes on Topix per month, which translates into roughly 11.5 minutes per unique visitor.
About Topix
Topix is the largest local forum site in the United States, aggregating news and hosting conversation for over twenty thousand cities and towns and over 12 million people a month. Topix is a top 100 web site and top 20 mobile site on Quantcast (March 2013). Based in Palo Alto, Calif., Topix LLC is a privately held company with investment from Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE: GCI), The McClatchy Company (NYSE: MNI) and Tribune Company. For more, visit www.topix.com.